DaytonDailyNews.com

ENGLEWOOD — A $500,000 bond was sent Monday for the armed robbery suspect who, while in a locked Englewood police cruiser on Saturday, Aug. 2, was able to slip out of her handcuffs, escape from the back seat and steal the cruiser.

The Vandalia Municipal Court placed Amber O'Malley, 31 of Kettering under the bond Monday on charges of aggravated robbery and failure to comply to the order or signal of a police officers while in Englewood. Greg Flannagan, spokesman for the Montgomery County Prosecutor's office, said prosecutors approved an addition charge of failing to comply against O'Malley for her alleged actions in Dayton.

Also approved in the Dayton portion of the case were charges of felonious assault with a deadly weapon and felonious assault against a peace officer, but a spokesperson for the Dayton Municipal Court Clerk of Courts office said no appearance for O'Malley has been scheduled in Dayton yet.

Englewood City Manager Eric Smith said Sgt. Lang will investigate to see if Julie Brownfield violated any policies in allowing O'Malley to escape. He said it would be inappropriate to speculate on possible disciplinary action until the investigation is complete.

Smith said Sgt. Mike Lang, who is conducting the investigation, is to report to him, bypassing Public Safety Director Mark Brownfield because the officer involved is Brownfield's wife Julie Brownfield.

"We don't want the appearance of impropriety," Smith said. "Sgt. Lang typically handles our internal affairs investigations, and he'll be handling this one. But Mark Brownfield won't be involved."

On Saturday morning a woman identified as O'Malley was arrested by Dayton police on East Bruce Avenue a few blocks east of Main Street. O'Malley was suspected of robbing an Englewood gas station with a hammer earlier Saturday.

Smith said preliminary information about the incident indicates Dayton officers turned O'Malley over to Julie Brownfield, who handcuffed the woman and placed her in the back seat of the Englewood police cruiser.

Smith said O'Malley complained that her handcuffs were too tight and that she was hot in the back of the cruiser. Brownfield apparently loosened the cuffs a little and partially rolled the window of the cruiser down so O'Malley could get some air.

"We don't treat prisoners roughly. We try to treat them with respect," Smith said. "Loosening the cuffs apparently was done for the woman's comfort."

Smith said the cruiser remained running with the keys in it, which he said is standard procedure.

O'Malley apparently was able to slip out of the loosened handcuffs. She then reached out through the partially opened window and let herself out of the back seat of the police cruiser using the outside door latch.

Smith said Brownfield and the other officers on the scene were apparently conversing, and no one was directly watching the suspect.

"That's a policy issue that probably needs to be addressed," Smith said. "Somebody needs to be keeping an eye on prisoners all the time. It's not just an issue of escape; the prisoner could be having a medical issue."

The officers' lapse in attention gave O'Malley time to get into the driver's seat of the cruiser. One Dayton officer was able to reach the car and attempt to reach through the window to put it in park, but the suspect sped away, causing the officer to fall and suffer minor scrapes and bruises.

Police said O'Malley drove the cruiser in a loop through West Dayton before returning to within two blocks of where she was originally arrested. Officers, alerted to her position by the cruiser's global positioning equipment, were able to find O'Malley hiding in a neighborhood garage and place her back in custody.

The marriage in 2004 between the former Julie McFadden, an Englewood officer since 1999, and the head of the department Mark Brownfield led to complaints of nepotism in 2006 by Susan Sigler, the wife of another Englewood officer Keith Sigler.

The police department fired Keith Sigler after Sigler admitted he knew his wife had written an anonymous letter to community leaders complaining about possible favoritism and attempting to show the Brownfield's marriage might not be legal.

An arbitrator upheld Keith Siglar's firing earlier this year, but the Siglars have filed a federal lawsuit against the city, Smith, Mark Brownfield and other officers.

Smith said that coincidentally he is attending depositions in connection with the federal lawsuit on Monday, Aug. 4.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2395 or jcummings@DaytonDailyNews.com.