A Covington police officer has been suspended after an internal investigation concluded the officer harassed two female coworkers, according to a statement from the city.

The Covington Board of Commissioners found Sergeant Jason Hartzler violated the department's policies "related to unbecoming conduct," the statement reads.

Commissioners unanimously voted early Thursday morning to suspend Hartzler for 30 days and demote him by one rank following a more than seven-hour hearing that included testimony from 10 witnesses.

The records show Hartzler appealed Covington Police Chief Brian Valenti's recommendation for an eight-day suspension, leading to the hearing.

An internal investigation into Hartzler's conduct was performed by two Covington police detectives after a written complaint was filed against the officer, city records show.

The detectives undercovered incidents involving separate women that happened in December and January, according to the statement of charges against Hartzler filed April 14.

During the first incident, the records state, Hartzler got into a recruit's "personal space" during morning roll call, touching the woman's back and the front of her vest, as well as unnecessarily rearranging her police patch.

Witnesses to the interaction called it "inappropriate" and "unprofessional," the document states, adding the recruit also reported feeling "discomfort" and that she wasn't comfortable reporting the incident due to Hartzler's seniority.

Hartzler approached the recruit a few weeks later and apologized for the incident, telling her that "he got in trouble for his conduct," the records state.

He again came up to her unexpectedly during a training exercise and started questioning her on how she was conducting the exercise, the document states, even though he wasn't part of the exercise and the recruit was following the instructor's directions.

The second incident involved another department employee, the records show, adding Hartzler asked the woman multiple times to accompany him to look at a hole in the floor upstairs that gives a view of the crime lab.

The woman became uncomfortable with Hartzler's insistence and she felt the officer was trying to isolate her, the document states.

She felt she had no choice but to go with him because of his rank, the record shows, and she mouthed "Come with me" to a detective standing nearby, who accompanied Hartzler and the woman upstairs.

After they looked at the hole, Hartzler made repeated comments about a chair in the room being used for oral sex, the document states. The woman later filed a sexual harassment complaint against Hartzler.

"The City of Covington and its Police Department will not tolerate inappropriate behavior by its employees," the city's statement reads.

Hartzler's attorney was not immediately available for comment Thursday night. The Enquirer has requested Hartzler's personnel file and other documents related to his alleged misconduct.

Enquirer media partner Fox19 contributed.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Covington officer gets suspension after sexual harassment complaint