COLUMBUS, Ohio - Two former Columbus police vice officers have been charged in a federal case.
Steven Rosser, 43, and Whitney Lancaster, 57, are charged with violating the civil rights of people they investigated - including conducting unlawful searches and seizures and double billing off-duty details, court records allege.
Federal prosecutors allege Rosser became involved in a “physical altercation” with a man outside a strip club in 2015 and later used the “log-in credentials of a fellow CPD officer” to create a false report against the man alleging he made a “threat” on Rosser’s life.
The man spent five days in jail before the charges were ultimately dropped.
In two separate incidents, Lancaster and Rosser were also accused of searching a strip club owner without a warrant and double the department for special duty hours they worked a water park.
10 Investigates spoke to David DeVillers, U.S. Attorney for the southern district of Ohio.
“They used their positions as police officers to victimize people. They are no longer police officers so they cant use that cover of right,” he said.
Before being fired by the Columbus Division of Police, Rosser and Lancaster spent a year on desk duty following the controversial arrest of Stormy Daniels and two other women in July of 2018. The women all sued and received settlements from the city.
The vice officers had said they were investigating human trafficking in strip clubs – but an internal investigation found they had no real motive to be there and that Daniels’ arrest was improper.
10 Investigates also found the officers also spent $2,700 of city money on tips and lap dances and $1200 on alcohol while investigating strip clubs for alleged drug activity and human trafficking.
“ They’ve been indicted, they’ve been charged We are alleging that they are corrupt cops. In the end, it will be up to a jury to decide if they are corrupt cops. But that’s what our allegations are,” DeVillers said.
The United States Attorney's Office also released the following information in a release:
Nick’s Cabaret
According to the indictment, in March 2015, Rosser was involved in a physical fight with an individual at Nick’s Cabaret, a gentleman’s club on East Dublin Granville Road. Rosser allegedly represented that he was acting in the course and scope of his employment as a police officer during the fight and in the days that followed.
The indictment alleges that Rosser conspired with others to deprive the other participant in that fight of his civil rights by having him seized and searched without probable cause, in violation of the Fourth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
Based, in part, on a report that Rosser wrote regarding the fight, officers arrested that individual in April 2015, and he was detained at the Franklin County jail for approximately five days before the charges against him were ultimately dismissed.
The Dollhouse
The indictment also alleges that in April 2018, Rosser, Lancaster, and others conspired to deprive one of the owners of the Dollhouse, a gentleman’s club on Karl Court, of his civil rights by seizing and searching him and his vehicle without probable cause, again in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Fort Rapids Indoor Waterpark Resort
Finally, the indictment alleges that both defendants conspired to commit wire fraud by routinely reporting false and fraudulent special duty hours.
Specifically, in January 2018, the Fort Rapids hotel, restaurant and indoor water-park complex on Corporate Drive in Columbus, suffered a fire-sprinkler break that led to extensive flooding. As a result, the Columbus Division of Fire ordered a 24-hour per day “fire watch” by qualified personnel to monitor the site for further damage and safety issues.
It is alleged that Rosser and Lancaster routinely reported to the Fort Rapids ownership group that they were working special duty during dates and times that they also reported they were on duty working their regular shifts as CPD officers. The two officers allegedly double-billed Fort Rapids and the Columbus Division of Police on 29 days between January and May 2018.
Lancaster and Rosser were fired by the Columbus Division of Police earlier this year.
Rosser and Lancaster were stripped of their badges and re-assigned to desk duty in 2018 following the controversy stemming from the arrest of Stormy Daniels and their work inside Columbus strip clubs.
10 Investigates reported that Rosser and Lancaster made approximately $98,000 in 2019 while assigned to desk duty.
“The Columbus Division of Police continues to advocate for police accountability and strongly supports today's arrests on corruption charges against these former officers by the FBI and the Public Corruption Task Force. I commend the dedication and effectiveness of the partnerships leading to today's arrests," Columbus Police Chief Thomas Quinlan said in the release from the United State Attorney's Office.