Original Article Officer drank before assault, reports say Lindsey Collom The Arizona Republic Jan. 21, 2005 12:00 AM Police reports show a Chandler police officer jailed in the aggravated assault of a neighbor this week said he began drinking about 10 hours before he was arrested. Brian Rader, 32, began drinking alcohol about noon Monday. Rader's statements to police show he downed beer, wine and whiskey, starting in his apartment and finishing up that evening at a nearby topless bar. Authorities say the off-duty officer punched and bit 45-year-old Chris Malham when Malham opened the door to his home in the Olive Grove Apartments. Rader, a two-year employee of Chandler police, is on paid administrative leave pending the results of an internal investigation. Employees at Sonny's Bar & Gentleman's Club said they didn't recall anything unusual about Monday evening. Malham went to a hospital for stitches while Rader was taken to the Chandler Police Department, where he was allowed to shower and put on fresh clothes because he had soiled the others. Police reports show Rader told a detective one or two men attacked him outside the topless bar. When told the fight was actually at the apartment complex, "Rader expressed surprise and asked me if I was 'kidding' him," the detective wrote. A version of this article appears in today's Chandler Republic.