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Friday, July 29, 2005

Santa Fe Police Wrap Up Whistleblower Beating Probe


Associated Press
      SANTA FE — Santa Fe police have wrapped up their investigation into the beating of Los Alamos National Laboratory whistleblower Tommy Hook and were preparing Friday to turn the results over to the district attorney.
    "It will be up to them to decide whether any charges would be filed against individuals involved in this whole incident, including Mr. Hook,'' Deputy Police Chief Eric Johnson said.
    Johnson had announced seven weeks ago that Hook's beating outside a topless bar was not related to his status as a whistleblower at the nuclear weapons lab.
    "There's nothing new'' to contradict that, Johnson said Friday.
    Police said the altercation was an "isolated incident'' that began when Hook struck a pedestrian in the club's parking lot.
    Authorities have not released the names of the other men involved.
    Hook, through his wife and his lawyer, maintained that the beating was aimed at keeping him from talking about alleged financial irregularities at the lab.
    They said Hook was lured to the bar by someone who called him at home and said he wanted to meet with him.
    Hook, a lab auditor, has a pending lawsuit against the University of California — which operates the lab — alleging retaliation against him as a whistleblower.
    Johnson said the investigation took a long time because the case had drawn such attention locally and nationally, and police wanted to be sure it was "complete and thorough.''
    It was not immediately clear how long it would take the district attorney's office to decide about charges once it received the report. District Attorney Henry Valdez was out of the office and not available for comment on Friday.