LOCAL NEWS
Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett responds to emerging allegations
Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett remains on leave as a criminal investigation continues into allegations plaguing himself and two other officers. The chief maintains that he has nothing to do with the controversy involving a woman and another officer in his department.
“The only connection that I have with that officer’s situation is that he’s an employee, or was an employee, for the City of Bellevue, and I’m chief of police,” Mylett told KIRO Radio’s Hanna Scott. “That’s it. There is no other connection. There is no connection.”
RELATED: Bellevue police officers placed on leave amid allegations
KIRO 7 reported that a woman recently made a number of allegations against Bellevue police officers. She has gone to Bothell police who are investigating the case. The woman initially placed an ad on Craigslist seeking no-strings-attached relationships with cops. Since then, one officer has been accused with sexual assault and has been on leave from the department since May (he has not been arrested or charged with a crime). Another officer, John Kivlin, resigned from the department last week, shortly after he was arrested and charged with domestic violence, involving the woman he had an affair with. He is also accused of witness tampering and violating a protection order.
In the mix of the investigation is Chief Mylett. The victim in the case reportedly stated in text messages with Kivlin that she had an affair with the officer’s boss. Mylett stresses that she never mentioned him by name or rank and argues that she is not referring to him. To his knowledge, the person she refers to “‘wasn’t her type and she moved on,’ or some words to that effect,” Mylett said.
“I’ve never met the individual,” Mylett said. “I’ve never been around the individual. Now, I’m chief of police and I interact with hundreds if not thousands of people in a year’s time so I don’t know if I was at an event where she was present. But I’ve never spoken with her, I’ve never interacted with her to my knowledge. I certainly do not know this individual on a personal level.”
“I take a lot of pictures with a lot of people and such, but I do not know this person,” he said. “I certainly have never been involved in a relationship outside of my marriage in 28 years of marriage.”
Five days after he was placed on leave due to the investigation by Bothell police, Mylett said he still doesn’t know the exact allegations against him, other than they are criminal. He maintains that he did not violate the public trust.
“Until the Bothell Police Department releases that information, people are guessing,” Mylett said.
