Providence pension board revokes former officer’s pension for ‘dishonorable’ service

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — After reviewing evidence for months, the Providence Retirement Board earlier this year determined a former police officer’s service to the city was “dishonorable” and revoked his pension, Target 12 has learned.

The former Providence police officer, Khatchig Kazandjian, along with his wife, appealed the board’s February decision.

In 2013, Kazandjian was fired after his superiors said he admitted to having sex with a witness while on the job in May 2012.

In Feb. 8 decision, the board outlined the facts of the case, detailing how Kazandjian was on duty when he responded to a domestic disturbance call and met with a woman who had been fighting with her boyfriend. He then drove her to her apartment in Pawtucket “where he engaged in sexual intercourse with her.”

The following day, the 19-year-old woman went to Memorial Hospital and stated that Kazandjian, who was 44 years-old at the time, had sexually assaulted her.

After the woman’s report, Kazandjian was interviewed by the R.I. State Police Major Crimes Unit, which was investigating the incident, and told them graphic details of the encounter and admitted he and the woman had sex.

In the interview, police asked Kazandjian about the woman’s ability to consent to sexual intercourse. He told investigators she was “not all there” and had been using narcotics and alcohol. He was never criminally charged.

Almost six months later, then-chief, Col. Hugh Clements, filed administrative charges against Kazandjian, alleging he violated eight of the department’s rules and regulations and moved to fire him.

Kazandjian fought the termination, triggering hearings in late 2012 and early 2013 under the Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBOR), a state law that governs how officer misconduct is investigated and disciplined.

The committee reviewed the statements Kazandjian, the woman, and other witnesses gave to state police. In Jan. 2013, the committee found Kazandjian was in violation of departmental rules and upheld nearly all administrative charges brought by Clements, except one for violating the department’s rules about conduct towards the public.

He was fired later that day.

In Nov. 2022, almost a decade later, Kazandjian sought a deferred retirement from the city.

The following summer, Col. Oscar Perez wrote a letter to the board asking them to review Kazandjian’s retirement benefits, and argued the panel had the authority to strip his pension if “a majority of the board determines by the preponderance of the evidence that an employee has engaged in ‘dishonorable service.’”

“In this instance, Officer Khatchig Kazandjian’s dishonorable service is clear,” Perez wrote in the July 2023 letter.

The next month, Perez appeared before the board to make his case. That day, the board voted to move ahead with taking action on Kazandjian’s pension.

In the Feb. 8 decision, the board said it acknowledged Kazandjian’s approximately 16 years of service to the department” and that, aside from the events of May 8, 2012, his record was “unblemished.” However, the board found Kazandjian’s actions from the day in question “especially grave,” and said his actions “damaged the reputation of the department as a whole.”

The panel also said it was “particularly troubled” by Kazandjian’s admission that the woman was “not all there,” when they had sex.

“This statement calls into question not just Kazandjian’s decision to have sexual intercourse with a witness and potential suspect in a police investigation while he was on duty,” the board wrote. “But particularly with a 19-year-old who was apparently under the influence of narcotics and alcohol, and whose capacity to consent to sexual intercourse was therefore in question.”

In the decision, the board also stated that when Kazandjian responded to the scene in 2012, “he failed to investigate whether a crime had, in fact, been committed, and failed to property secure evidence, in total disregard for his duties.”

“Finally, the Board finds it particularly troubling that, because Kazandjian was engaged in sexual intercourse while on duty as a Providence Police Officer, he was not able to respond to other police calls for assistance, which placed others–including his fellow officers and members of the public–in harm’s way,” the decision stated.

James Lombardi, who chairs the board, told Target 12 that the decision to revoke Kazandjian’s pension was unanimous.

“The board takes these matters very seriously and works together to provide the benefits promised and protect the integrity of the pension system,” Lombardi said.

Kazandjian remarried in 2018, and the board determined his new spouse in not eligible for any pension benefits either.

On Feb. 28, attorney Stephen Antonucci filed an appeal in R.I. Superior Court on behalf of Kazandjian and his wife.

“My clients disagree with the decision made by the city of Providence Retirement Board and they are seeking redress from the Providence Superior Court,” Antonucci said in a statement to Target 12.

The appeal states the board’s decision was “unjust” and as a result, Kazandjian and his wife “had to file the appeal “and “bear an unfair financial burden.”

“The Kazandjians seek this court’s review of the Board’s decision to revoke Kazandjian’s pension and to deny [his wife’s] rights to all or a portion of Kazandjian’s pension as an innocent spouse,” Antonucci wrote.

Antonucci said the board should reverse its decision and that the Kazandjians should be awarded “reasonable litigation fees and expenses pursuant.”

Alexandra Leslie ( aleslie@wpri.com ) is a Target 12 investigative reporter covering Providence and more for 12 News. Connect with her on Twitter and on Facebook .

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