Prosper PD reverses discipline for detectives who reported colleagues' affair

Months after demoting six detectives and sergeants in a controversial investigation, the Prosper Police Department is reversing half of the punishments. The backpedaling comes just weeks after an I-Team investigation showed contention over the disciplinary process. 

It started with rumors of an affair between a female detective and a male sergeant. Their colleagues told Internal Affairs that the pair, Sgt. Larry Windon and Det. Lauren Harper, was breaking department rules, and potentially the law, by having sex in parking lots and along streets. 

Joseph Buttery was one of the detectives who reported the relationship. Sitting in a booth at the Sunview Cafe in Melissa recently, he recounted the investigation that led to his demotion and eventual resignation.

"I think a lot of people got lost in the fact of it being an affair," he said. "It's not the moral turpitude. If they would have had the affair on their own time, on their own dime, nobody would've cared." But, he pointed out, "we're at work when she's supposed to be at work, and they're engaged in those acts of public lewdness just a few hundred yards from the police department."

The timeline

Buttery said he and fellow detectives Cody Wilson and Michael Zachary decided to take action on Dec. 30, 2025. They started by looking at the police station's in-house camera system. "Within the first 20 minutes we saw a pattern of [Windon] hiding his phone," he said. "And it's coordinated with the days that [Harper] comes in late and she's supposed to be at work."

According to Buttery, their sergeant, Seanna Arredondo, Assistant Chief Tom Davis, and eventually Chief Doug Kowalski knew they were gathering evidence to give to Internal Affairs. 

"We observed it, we reported it, and [Davis] switched us from reporters to investigators," Buttery said.

The department officially opened up an internal investigation into the relationship on Jan. 5, 2026. Buttery said the focus appeared to quickly shift from the actions of the couple to those who had reported it.

The Internal Affairs lieutenant questioned the detectives about who directed them to look into the issue and how they decided to use resources to prove their suspicions. A lot of the focus was on their use of Flock license plate readers and the detectives' decision to search for the license plate of the department vehicle driven by the female detective.

Buttery defended that decision, saying an employee operating a cruiser or unmarked car has no expectation of privacy. "It was only run on the police vehicle," he told the I-Team. "No employee's personal vehicle was ran, no citizen's vehicle was ran. The Flock system was used in accordance of policy, because it says you have to have reasonable suspicion of a criminal predicate or law enforcement purpose."

He said the detectives were worried about what would come next. "They're going to retaliate for us reporting it because of what we believed to be personal relationships with the two that were involved," he said. 

Buttery said the group contacted the Collin County District Attorney's Office on Feb. 5 in hopes the move would protect them as whistleblowers. "We notified the DA, 'hey, these are crimes, they're not being investigated, and it looks like they're going to come after us.'"

Two weeks later, the detectives were given official notice that they were under internal investigation. Eight days later, their disciplinary hearings were held. The detectives' interviews from the first Internal Affairs case were used against them in their own cases.

Former chief voices his support

All of this played out as Kowalski was retiring from the department. In a statement obtained by the I-Team, he said he had recommended the pair in the relationship be fired, but that the town manager, Mario Canizares, reversed the decision.

According to Kowalski, the town also went against his recommendation that the detectives receive nothing more than a written reprimand.

Two weeks after Kowalski's retirement, interim Police Chief Ken Myers demoted everyone involved. The department said the detectives who reported the affair violated three policies for conducting an unauthorized investigation and their use of Flock. Their sergeant was also disciplined for her handling of the matter. The sole violation against the original pair was for not reporting the relationship. 

The fight for their records

Immediately following the discipline, an attorney for the detectives filed appeals and requested their personnel records and documentation of the Internal Affairs investigation. The public information request process dragged on for several months.

"We eventually got them as of a couple weeks ago," attorney Randall Moore said. "But it took a long time and a lot of work to get what we felt like we were entitled to as soon as the discipline was handed down."

"Getting our own records released to us was a headache," Buttery agreed. He said what he learned in the documents left him even more disturbed by how the discipline was handed down. The records, he said, show the demotion letters were drafted days before the disciplinary hearings, indicating that town officials had already decided punishments before allowing the detectives to defend themselves.

He also questioned the apparent reduction in policy violations for the pair in the relationship. "They only received supervisor/subordinate relationship. Initially, the document shows they were to be investigated for multiple policy violations, but that went away. But it's still in the open records."

Prosper reverses course

After the I-Team story about the demotions aired, the town skipped scheduling some of the appeals and moved right into making settlements.

"That's when negotiations started in earnest," Moore said. "There were a few, 'hey, you should make this right,' and, 'yeah, we'll look at it.' But after the story came out, it was, 'what can we do to make this right?'"

According to Moore, Prosper reversed the discipline for Cody Wilson and Michael Zachary. Both will be reinstated to their previous rank of corporal and will receive back pay and benefits. He said the town is also sending letters to the district attorney's offices in Collin and Denton Counties and the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement to clear their names in the investigation.

Moore attributed some of the success to Kowalski's support. "I've never had a former chief come in and do what he did," he said. "And what his statement does is totally take away any legitimate reason that they could have possibly given for what they did."

Sources say the town also reversed the punishment for Sgt. Arredondo, the detectives' supervisor.

But it is not that simple for Buttery, who resigned in July to work for another law enforcement agency. "I just can't do the day in, day out, where I'm more worried about being inside the department than I am being outside."

He said the town made him a similar offer, but it was not enough. He wants the people who he says mishandled the investigation to be held responsible.

"I didn't want to sign that agreement because I think more people need to be aware of this," Buttery said. "One of my biggest fears is that people who manipulated the process – our due process – are going to go down the road and do this at another agency."

It is unclear whether the town made any offer or agreement with the pair who were in a relationship. Their attorneys did not respond to the I-Team's request for comment. 

In an email signed by Stephen Tanner, Prosper's director of community engagement & experiences, the town also declined to answer questions.

"We continue to follow our longstanding, established practice of not offering public comment on specific personnel matters. This standard is grounded in protecting the privacy rights of our employees and preserving the integrity of formal administrative processes," the email said.

It remains to be seen what will happen with Arredondo, Wilson and Zachary. While their ranks were restored, they were not put directly back in their previous positions in the Criminal Investigations Division. Arredondo's attorney declined to comment.

Meanwhile, Prosper PD is now under its third chief this year. Brent Brown, formerly of Celina PD, recently took the job and is said to be making organizational changes after months of delayed promotions and open positions. Sources say they are hopeful that Brown will help restore morale.