Dean Symens, a Duluth police officer with a history of being accused of sexual assault and inappropriate sexual conduct, is no longer a member of the department.
Duluth police announced Friday that Symens' last day of employment by the city was Sept. 21. Police spokesman Brad Wick said the department wasn't able to release any further information.
Under Minnesota data privacy laws, the reason that Symens is no longer a member of the department is not public information because he didn't receive final discipline.
Duluth attorney Tom Andrew, who represented Symens, declined comment
Friday evening. Symens, the married father of two children, couldn't be reached for comment.
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Symens had first been on a paid administrative leave and then an unpaid administrative leave while police investigated two new complaints made against him last summer.
Symens, 38, an investigator in the Violent Crimes Unit, was acquitted of a sexual assault charge in a 2003 trial. He received departmental discipline after inappropriately searching a female three years earlier.
In the 2003 case, Symens was accused of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old mentally ill woman in a Lincoln Park apartment. He had been working as a Lincoln Park School
liaison officer on Jan. 2, 2003, when he helped with the custody transfer of an 11-year-old girl from the home of the alleged victim. The woman said Symens came back the next day and again five days later, when the alleged assault took place.
A St. Louis County jury found Symens not guilty of all charges against him.
In February 2000, a Hermantown woman told police that she was driving out of the Fitger's Brewery Complex parking ramp when Symens walked over to her stopped car and allegedly touched her in a sexual manner.
In another alleged incident, a past employee of Grandma's Saloon and Grill reported that an off-duty Duluth police officer touched her inappropriately in spring 1999. When a fellow officer learned of the February 2000 complaint against Symens, he arranged to have the former Grandma's employee look at a photo lineup of six Duluth police officers. The woman identified Symens as the man she was "100 percent sure" had run his hand up the inside of her leg as she carried a large tray to serve another table.
Symens was disciplined by his own department at that time when it was found that he had violated the Duluth Police Manual Code of Conduct. In addition to a written reprimand, he wasn't allowed to work any extra jobs for one year and was to receive training on search and seizures, probable cause to search people and vehicles, and proper procedures for searching females.
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Symens was warned in his employee performance report that any future inappropriate searching or touching of individuals would result in severe disciplinary action and include dismissal.
