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A Greensboro police officer was found guilty of two counts of assault on a female Friday in Guilford County District Court.
In delivering his verdict, Chief District Court Judge Joseph Turner said he also was disappointed in the police leaders at the party for allowing the apparently alcohol-fueled assaults to take place.
 

“Reluctantly and sadly, I find you guilty on both charges,” Turner said to officer A.J. Blake.
 

Blake was accused of grabbing, pushing and kicking his girlfriend and of grabbing another officer’s girlfriend by her neck. The party, attended mainly by police and their spouses or dates, was held Jan. 16 at the Greensboro Police Club at 524 Air Harbor Road. The assaults were said to have occurred as the party was ending early Jan. 17.
 

Blake’s two-week sentence will be suspended for three years as long as Blake completes a domestic violence training course and commits no further assaults on his girlfriend Sandra Sanchez or Lorraine Galloway.
 

Blake also may lose his ability to work in law enforcement because the N.C. Training and Standards Commission does not allow anyone with a domestic assault conviction to be a law enforcement officer.
 

Blake’s attorney, Ken Free, notified Turner after the sentencing that he would appeal the decision to Superior Court.
 

All the witnesses called who had been at the party testified  they had been drinking and that Blake and Sanchez had an argument.
 

Officer C.M. Schultheis and Galloway, both guests at the party, testified they saw Blake assault Sanchez as the pair was leaving the party.

Schultheis said he saw Blake push Sanchez’s back and Galloway said she saw Blake kick Sanchez outside of the police club.
 

Sanchez said she had not been assaulted but had stumbled outside of the club when her high-heeled shoe became stuck between wooden planks on the porch. A crime scene investigator testified  she hadn’t seen any dirt or marks on Sanchez’s white jacket or any bruises to indicate she had been kicked.
 

But Turner said he didn’t find Sanchez to be credible.
 

Galloway said Blake turned on her when she remarked on the kick she saw him deliver to Sanchez.
 

“I stood in the doorway and said, 'You’re not going to do that anymore,’” Galloway said. “He turned toward me and that’s when he grabbed me by the throat — he had a strong grip — and threw me back into the police club building.”
 

Blake testified Galloway was acting aggressively toward him and he pushed her back to defend himself.
 

Blake joined the police department June 16, 2001. He has been suspended without pay since Jan. 20. He is assigned to the investigative support bureau and works on the gang unit.
 

The Greensboro Police Club is a philanthropic group that raises money for youth athletics and other community programs.
 

The Jan. 16 party was not associated with the club’s activities, according to a club official.

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com