Sacramento police officer charged with filing false reports fighting her firing in court

Alexa Palubicki, the Sacramento police officer arrested last May and charged with two felony counts of filing a false report, has filed a court petition against the city over her firing and asking for a court order requiring Sacramento officials to submit to arbitration.

Joshua Olander, an attorney for Palubicki, 27, says in documents filed Monday in Sacramento Superior Court that she was fired Nov. 18 “for alleged misconduct in the course and scope of her duties as a police officer” and that the city denied her Dec. 6 request for arbitration.

The denial was based on the fact that she had 15 days from her firing to appeal — until Dec. 3 — and did not make the deadline, court documents say.

Olander, who did not respond to a request for comment, argued that Palubicki’s notice of termination “was defective as it failed to accurately identify the appeal processes available to petitioner” under agreements with the Sacramento Police Officers Association.

Police and city spokesmen declined comment Wednesday.

Palubicki is scheduled for a court appearance in her criminal case Tuesday for a “settlement conference,” a designation that typically signals a plea agreement.

She was arrested last May after officers alerted supervisors to potential problems involving Palubicki and other officers, a move that resulted in a five-month internal affairs investigation.

Sacramento police have said little about the case, but said at the time of her arrest that the department “is committed to transparency and we will continue to update our community regarding this case as we are able.”

Despite that, the department has yet to release records that a new state law requires to be made public that involve sustained findings of dishonesty by officers. “Review of additional records remains ongoing,” the city’s website on such cases said Wednesday regarding the Palubicki investigation.

However, internal police documents obtained by The Sacramento Bee last year show the case began at 12:33 a.m. on July 11, 2020, at the Shell gas station at 225 Jibboom St., near Discovery Park

Palubicki and her partner, another female officer, saw a 27-year-old Black man motorist “abruptly” pull into the gas station and park across two parking spaces, the documents say.

The driver got out and the officers told him he was parked illegally, then Palubicki ran a records check and discovered the driver had a suspended license, the documents say.

Her partner looked into the car and thought she saw marijuana in a cup inside the car, leading to a search of the vehicle despite protests from the motorist that they did not have permission to search the car, the documents say.

Palubicki’s partner searched a backpack in the car and found a loaded handgun, the documents say, and the motorist was arrested and charged with two felony counts of carrying a concealed weapon and a misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license.

Prosecutors later dismissed the case, citing “insufficient evidence,” court filings say.

Internal affairs became involved after other officers began talking about whether there was probable cause to approach the motorist, the documents say.

“There’s a lot wrong with this,” one officer told his partner as he heard details of the arrest, the documents say. “I don’t know about this.”

The documents say six versions of the police report on the July arrest were found on a thumb drive taken from one of the officers, and that some versions conflicted with others.

Eventually, then-Chief Daniel Hahn, three deputy chiefs and other top managers were briefed on the probe.

After her arrest last May, Sacramento prosecutors reviewed previous police reports she filed, comparing them to body camera and other video footage, and notified defense attorneys.

“Cases in which her participation was material and necessary for prosecution have been dismissed,” Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert’s office said at the time. “In other cases where Palubicki participated in some manner but is not a necessary witness for trial, we have notified the defense of this investigation consistent with our ethical obligations.”

This story was originally published March 9, 2022 at 12:09 PM.