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GREENSBORO — Police investigators still have a lot of work ahead of them in determining what happened in a sexual assault case that led to the Dec. 18 suspension of three officers.

Chief Tim Bellamy said the investigation is more complex than it may appear.

According to police, a female police officer said she was sexually assaulted when she was off duty sometime between 11 p.m. Dec. 14 and 1 a.m. Dec. 15.

Authorities said the officer and a friend were in the area of the Four Seasons Town Centre when three on-duty police officers offered them a ride. The officer reported that she was assaulted during the ride.

Sgt. A.S. Wallace, 43; Officer J.O. LeGrand, 37; and Officer C.S. Stevens, 42, have been suspended with pay since Dec. 18.

Greensboro police do not release the names of people who report being sexually assaulted. The News & Record does not identify people who claim to have been sexually assaulted unless they give their permission.

Although the investigation appears to center on the three suspended officers, the female officer and her friend, Bellamy said more people might be able to give information to investigator Cheryl Hallyburton about what happened.

"There are more than five people (Hallyburton) has got to interview," Bellamy said.

Also, Hallyburton must coordinate interviews with the three suspended officers and their attorneys.

"We can't just compel them to come in for a criminal investigation," Bellamy said.

Capt. Janice Rogers, commander of the department's Criminal Investigations Division, said cases involving police officers get top priority. Hallyburton was off work during the holidays, however, slowing the investigation, Rogers said.

"What we typically do on these, they take priority over other cases, and we investigate as quickly as we possibly can," Rogers said.

Neither Bellamy nor Rogers could estimate how long the investigation would take or what information will eventually become public. Bellamy said that when the case is closed, he will release everything the law allows.

What information the law allows has been controversial since Dec. 18, when police issued a press release saying the three officers had been suspended as part of a "criminal and administrative" investigation.

Police refused to release other details of the incident, including the time, date, location and nature of the violation of law. North Carolina law makes such information in all criminal investigations public unless a judge orders otherwise.

After nine days, a lawsuit filed by the News & Record and a special City Council vote, police issued a statement describing those details of the incident.

Bellamy said his goal for the investigation is to have a thoroughly investigated case to take to the district attorney.

"We don't want anybody coming and second-guessing us," Bellamy said. "If the people of Greensboro are really concerned, give us time to do a thorough investigation."

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