Charges: St. Francis Police Officer Recorded, Released Video Of Job Interviews

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – A St. Francis investigator is facing charges of violating government practices after he recorded and released video from private job interviews.

Arnold John Gennaro, 43, has been charged with one count of intercepting electrical communication, one count of disclosing electrical communication and two counts of violating government data practices.

According to the criminal complaint, on August 7, 2014 interviews for an open sergeant position were taking place at the St. Francis police department between 1 to 3:45 p.m.

There were five candidates, one of which was Gennaro.

Interviews took place in a conference room at the police department, located in the 4000 block of St. Francis Blvd. The conference room had a motion-activated surveillance camera that was controlled by the police department.

Gennaro was the first person to be interviewed.

According to the criminal complaint, after Gennaro's interview he used his secure credentials and a department-issued computer to access video feed from the conference rooms.

He saved video from all four subsequent interviews.

Officials said the following day Gennaro downloaded the videos off of the computer.

A later search of Gennaro's computer found that he had kept the videos saved for some time before deleting them.

According to the criminal complaint, on August 11, 2014 Gennaro approached a St. Francis city council member and said he had an audio copy of the sergeant interviews from Aug. 7. He claimed he believed there was misconduct by members of the interview panel.

Gennaro played the clips for the council member, who then organized a meeting with the St. Francis mayor where the clips were played once more.

A search warrant for the police department was then issued, which lead to the reveal that Gennaro had recorded the interviews himself.

Gennaro is currently awaiting a formal trial.