Sheriff running Nancy Guthrie case responds after report reveals unseemly exit from first policing job
The Pima County Sheriff's Department updated Sheriff Chris Nanos' public resume Tuesday after a local news report highlighted an error in his work history that appeared to glaze over an unhappy split with his first employer in law enforcement.
Nanos resigned in lieu of termination from the El Paso Police Department in Texas in 1982, according to public records cited in the Arizona Republic.
But his resume claimed he remained there until joining Pima County as a corrections officer in 1984.
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"The Pima County Sheriff's Department recently identified two clerical errors in Sheriff Chris Nanos' publicly posted resume," a department spokesperson told reporters later Tuesday. "Both date discrepancies were administrative in nature and were not intended to mislead or misrepresent Sheriff Nanos' work history."
The statement did not address allegations in the report that he left his role in El Paso to avoid being fired.
"For clarity, Sheriff Nanos served with the El Paso Police Department from 1976 to 1982," the spokesperson added. "His service with El Paso PD concluded in 1982, not 1984 as previously stated. Additionally, Sheriff Nanos was promoted to the rank of captain in 2007, not 2009."
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According to the report, Nanos served as a decoy who baited out drug dealers and would-be muggers. But he left in 1982 amid allegations of "insubordination" and "consistent inefficiency."
In six years, he reportedly spent 37 days suspended — for allegations of excessive use of force, off-duty gambling and coming to work late or missing shifts altogether.
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Near the end of his time in El Paso, he took a 15-day suspension for allegedly sending a suspected robber to the intensive care unit after kicking him in the head during an arrest, according to police records included in the report.
The Republic also published what it described as an emailed response to its reporter's questions, attributed to Nanos himself, after he reportedly declined to comment on the error.
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"That’s your ‘urgent’ request? You sure you don’t want to go back to my high school and ask why I got swats from the principal?" it reads. "Good luck with your hit piece."
Nanos is in charge of the investigation into the suspected abduction of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie, the mother of "Today" co-host Savannah Guthrie.
He's taken heat over his initial handling of the crime scene, purported disputes with the FBI over bringing the bureau into the case and subsequent lab testing, conflicting statements given at different points in the case and for attending an Arizona Wildcats NCAA game while Guthrie's adult children were filming a response to her potential abductor.
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She has been missing since Feb. 1. Nanos held three news conferences that week, with the last coming on Feb. 5. There have been none held since.
In the second, held on Feb. 3, he addressed the weight of massive media attention to the case.
"I'm not used to everybody hanging on my words and then trying to hold me accountable for what I say," he told reporters.
More than five weeks after her disappearance, authorities have not publicly identified any suspects, persons of interest or any vehicles that could be connected to the crime.
There is a combined reward of more than $1.2 million for information that leads to Guthrie's recovery.
Anyone with information is asked to dial 1-800-CALL-FBI.