An Oklahoma City police officer who resigned last year to avoid criminal charges after a drive-by shooting at a strip club was arrested again after his ex-girlfriend reported he broke into her house, according to a police report released Friday.
Michael Wayne McKethan Jr., 37, was arrested April 10 on a burglary complaint.
According to the report, McKethan broke into the woman's home in the 2700 block of NW 164 Terrace just before 10 p.m.
“It's an old girlfriend of his,” said Scott Adams, McKethan's attorney.
“He didn't do anything wrong. After all the facts come out, I'm sure he will be acquitted or charges won't even be filed. He didn't commit any crimes.”
Court records list the woman as Toni Ann Cooper. She told police she had been living with McKethan, but broke up with him and moved out of his house March 1.
What is alleged.
Cooper said she was in her bathroom when McKethan walked in and surprised her. She told him to leave and refused his request to take him back.
McKethan then grabbed a glass bathroom sink and broke it on the floor, and went to the living room and ripped a television from the wall and threw it to the ground, Cooper told officers.
Cooper filed a victim's protective order against McKethan earlier that day, court records show.
McKethan resigned from the Oklahoma City Police department in 2011 after he and another officer were charged with a drive-by shooting two years earlier at Night Trips, an Oklahoma City strip club. In return for both officers' resignations, prosecutors dropped charges in the case.
Charges in a separate insurance fraud case also were dropped after McKethan agreed to pay restitution.
Showing posts with label breaking and entering. Show all posts
Showing posts with label breaking and entering. Show all posts
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Friday, February 19, 2010
Rookie Officer Keith Anderson Arrested for Breaking into Home
A rookie Alberta RCMP officer, who was a suspect in a break and enter, has now been charged with breaking into a home northwest of Calgary.
Mounties say the officer had only been on the job seven months and was on his first posting in Cochrane, Alta., when he was arrested.
Police say a relative of the homeowner found an off-duty Mountie early Sunday morning inside a home in the bedroom community.
When the constable was told to leave, he identified himself as a police officer and left but was arrested a short time later.
Keith Anderson, 22, has been charged with break and enter and is expected to appear in court March 9.
He has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the court case.
Mounties say the officer had only been on the job seven months and was on his first posting in Cochrane, Alta., when he was arrested.
Police say a relative of the homeowner found an off-duty Mountie early Sunday morning inside a home in the bedroom community.
When the constable was told to leave, he identified himself as a police officer and left but was arrested a short time later.
Keith Anderson, 22, has been charged with break and enter and is expected to appear in court March 9.
He has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the court case.
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Officer Stephen Commander Jr Charged with Breaking Into Home
Police Chief Jose Lopez Sr. said he is "disappointed" by the arrest of a Durham police officer on break-in charges, the third in a series of embarrassments for the Durham Police Department.
Wake County sheriff's deputies charged Stephen Patrick Commander Jr., 31, of Oxford, with breaking into a Wake County home and telling the people there that a person he was seeking would be dead by the end of the day if they did not reveal his whereabouts.
Commander has been charged with one felony count each of breaking and entering, and extortion, according to an arrest warrant filed at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office.
Investigators have accused Commander of breaking into a residence at 16113 New Light Road in Wake Forest on Jan. 27. Two people, Kimberly Ann Morgan and Harvey Curtis, were inside the home. They told Wake investigators that Commander announced he was looking for Nazareth Hurst and that they "better tell me where Nazareth is or he will be dead by the end of the day," according to the arrest warrant.
Commander turned himself in to Wake deputies without incident on Jan. 29, according to Phyllis Stephens, a Wake County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. He was released from custody after posting $3,000 bail and ordered to have no contact with the people who were in the home, court records show.
Durham police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Commander was not on duty, nor was his search for Hurst part of any police investigation.
Commander made his first court appearance Tuesday in Wake County District Court. His case was continued until Feb. 23.
"We have no comment at this time," Logan Howell, Commander's attorney, said Wednesday.
Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez issued a statement Wednesday saying he was "deeply disappointed" by the recent arrests of Commander and a former Durham officer, Sherrod Peace. The are 496 officers total with the Durham Police Department.
Peace, a 35-year-old former UNC football player, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on weapons and drug violations after he was charged Dec. 21 with distributing less than 5 grams of crack cocaine and possessing a .45-caliber handgun.
Michael said Commander joined the Durham department in January 2007. He works as a patrol officer and earns an annual salary of $38,850. He is still employed with the department pending an investigation by the department's professional standards and criminal investigation divisions, which is standard policy when an officer has been criminally charged. Michael declined to say whether Commander was actively on patrol.
Commander, reached by phone Wednesday, said he wanted to talk about the incident but had been advised not to comment.
"I wish I could, but I can't," he said.
Both arrests follow a high-profile overtime scandal that cost Deputy Police Chief B.J. Council her job when an officer she supervised claimed $62,000 in extra pay.
Alesha Robinson-Taylor, 39, oversaw the system that assigned officers off-duty work. She claimed 1,837 hours of overtime from September 2008 to August 31, making $62,000 in extra pay. Her salary was $52,665.90.
Robinson-Taylor was fired in October after an anonymous e-mail tipped off city officials to the overtime excess. An audit and investigation found Council not only knew about the overtime as early as last fall, but then assumed responsibility for approving Robinson-Taylor's extra hours. Council took personal leave until she retired on Dec. 31.
City officials have said they're looking to recover about $45,000 that was paid to Robinson-Taylor, who joined the department in 1997.
The investigation is now in the hands of the State Bureau of Investigation.
Wake County sheriff's deputies charged Stephen Patrick Commander Jr., 31, of Oxford, with breaking into a Wake County home and telling the people there that a person he was seeking would be dead by the end of the day if they did not reveal his whereabouts.
Commander has been charged with one felony count each of breaking and entering, and extortion, according to an arrest warrant filed at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office.
Investigators have accused Commander of breaking into a residence at 16113 New Light Road in Wake Forest on Jan. 27. Two people, Kimberly Ann Morgan and Harvey Curtis, were inside the home. They told Wake investigators that Commander announced he was looking for Nazareth Hurst and that they "better tell me where Nazareth is or he will be dead by the end of the day," according to the arrest warrant.
Commander turned himself in to Wake deputies without incident on Jan. 29, according to Phyllis Stephens, a Wake County Sheriff's Office spokeswoman. He was released from custody after posting $3,000 bail and ordered to have no contact with the people who were in the home, court records show.
Durham police spokeswoman Kammie Michael said Commander was not on duty, nor was his search for Hurst part of any police investigation.
Commander made his first court appearance Tuesday in Wake County District Court. His case was continued until Feb. 23.
"We have no comment at this time," Logan Howell, Commander's attorney, said Wednesday.
Durham Police Chief Jose Lopez issued a statement Wednesday saying he was "deeply disappointed" by the recent arrests of Commander and a former Durham officer, Sherrod Peace. The are 496 officers total with the Durham Police Department.
Peace, a 35-year-old former UNC football player, was indicted by a federal grand jury last week on weapons and drug violations after he was charged Dec. 21 with distributing less than 5 grams of crack cocaine and possessing a .45-caliber handgun.
Michael said Commander joined the Durham department in January 2007. He works as a patrol officer and earns an annual salary of $38,850. He is still employed with the department pending an investigation by the department's professional standards and criminal investigation divisions, which is standard policy when an officer has been criminally charged. Michael declined to say whether Commander was actively on patrol.
Commander, reached by phone Wednesday, said he wanted to talk about the incident but had been advised not to comment.
"I wish I could, but I can't," he said.
Both arrests follow a high-profile overtime scandal that cost Deputy Police Chief B.J. Council her job when an officer she supervised claimed $62,000 in extra pay.
Alesha Robinson-Taylor, 39, oversaw the system that assigned officers off-duty work. She claimed 1,837 hours of overtime from September 2008 to August 31, making $62,000 in extra pay. Her salary was $52,665.90.
Robinson-Taylor was fired in October after an anonymous e-mail tipped off city officials to the overtime excess. An audit and investigation found Council not only knew about the overtime as early as last fall, but then assumed responsibility for approving Robinson-Taylor's extra hours. Council took personal leave until she retired on Dec. 31.
City officials have said they're looking to recover about $45,000 that was paid to Robinson-Taylor, who joined the department in 1997.
The investigation is now in the hands of the State Bureau of Investigation.
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Spring Lake Police Department Being Investigated
SPRING LAKE
The Spring Lake Police Department was stripped of its remaining police powers Monday, and two of its officers were arrested.
Sgt. Alfonzo Devone Whittington Jr. and Sgt. Darryl Eugene Coulter Sr. were arrested after being indicted by a special Cumberland County grand jury.
About midafternoon, Sheriff Moose Butler and District Attorney Ed Grannis met with Police Chief A.C. Brown and Town Manager Larry Faison to discuss the action being taken against the Police Department.
They delivered an order from Chief District Court Judge Beth Keever saying that all criminal work within the town, including misdemeanors, would be handled by the Sheriff’s Office.
Grannis also said he plans to dismiss all pending misdemeanor cases filed by Spring Lake officers and will evaluate pending felony cases.
The action, which Grannis later called unprecedented, has in effect stripped Spring Lake police of any remaining powers.
The Sheriff’s Office set up a mobile command unit at the Spring Lake Family Resource Center on Odell Road. Butler said roughly four deputies on rotating shifts will work out of that location.
Starting today, all 911calls in the town will be forwarded to the Sheriff’s Office. Residents who need non-emergency assistance should call 323-1500.
Butler could not say how long his officers would handle Spring Lake’s investigations.
“We’re stretched, but we’re going to be here till the issue’s resolved,” he said.
Butler and Grannis met with four members of the county Board of Commissioners behind closed doors following Monday’s arrests.
After the hour-long meeting, board Chairwoman Jeannette Council said the commissioners support Butler providing law enforcement for Spring Lake residents until at least June 3. Council said the county can afford the expense without a special appropriation.
After June 3, the commissioners urged Spring Lake officials to contract with the sheriff to continue the service until town leaders reconstitute the Police Department “as a fully functioning law enforcement agency.”
Late Monday, many Spring Lake officers said they did not know whether they should show up for work today or what the future holds for them.
Town leaders evaded those questions Monday.
“Give us a little time,” Mayor Ethel Clark said before leaving Town Hall. “We’re still formalizing a plan.”
Brown remained in his office after Grannis and Butler left and would not answer questions from reporters. He surfaced briefly to check his vehicle and said, “I got a hot one,” before going back inside.
Faison referred all questions to a news release he said he faxed. He then slipped out of Town Hall to avoid reporters waiting at the rear of the building. The Observer did not receive a fax.
2 officers charged
Whittington, who joined the department in October 2005, was charged with 11 crimes, including embezzlement by public officer, obtaining property by false pretenses, larceny and obstruction of justice. The charges stem from $2,900 that was allegedly taken from the department’s evidence room. Whittington, who also served as the department’s evidence custodian and internal affairs investigator, allegedly took the money between September and January, according to the indictment. He then directed officers to alter reports and lie about the handling of the money. His bail was set at $100,000.
Coulter, who has been with the department since July 1999, was charged with 20 crimes, including breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
The charges stem from an April 27, 2008, incident at a home on the 400 block of Vass Road.
According to the indictments, Coulter broke into the home, which was occupied by Mark Anthony Jones Jr., Jimmy Jovan Taylor and Samuel Darnell Wallace. He assaulted the men and forcibly removed them from the home while threatening them with a handgun and a shotgun, kidnapped them and then held them against their will by handcuffing the men.
The indictments allege that Coulter, while supervising three officers also involved in the false arrests, had no legal justification for the actions.
Coulter also was indicted for his alleged actions during an investigation at the Sleep Inn Motel. According to the indictment, Coulter lied when he said he smelled marijuana in a room from which officers seized $2,900. That’s the same money that Whittington is accused of later taking from the evidence room. His bail was set at $250,000.
Both officers appeared before Senior Resident Superior Court Judge E. Lynn Johnson about 4:30 p.m. They were escorted into the courtroom by agents with the State Bureau of Investigation. Johnson read the charges against them and told them the maximum penalty they face for each.
According to Johnson, Whittington could face 24 years, two months in prison if convicted on all charges. Coulter could face 32 years, four months in prison.
Whittington said he planned to hire his own lawyer. Coulter asked for a court-appointed lawyer, which the judge said would have to come from outside the county’s public defender’s office.
String of problems
Monday’s arrests are the latest in a string of problems for the Police Department.
In a letter to the county’s two top judges Monday, Grannis said he first realized the department had troubles in December 2006. It was at that time, the District Attorney’s Office learned Spring Lake officers mishandled child abuse allegations and the subsequent death investigation of 3-year-old Anijah Burr.
He later asked that all homicides be investigated by the Sheriff’s Office and then expanded that request to include all felonies.
In mid-2007, Grannis said he asked the SBI to conduct a criminal inquiry into the department’s narcotics division.
An independent assessment of the department, done at the request of the town Board of Aldermen in late 2007, found a number of problems, including a lack of training for officers, a lack of written directives and the leadership of Brown.
Originally, Grannis said he was concerned that the department lacked trained manpower and expertise. Now, he said, he has a much deeper concern.
Grannis wrote that the department still was under investigation by state agents.
He said the SBI’s report made him “genuinely disheartened” and that many of the questions raised in the report came from officers within the department.
“Within our democratic society, we entrust law enforcement with significant authority and responsibility in carrying out our criminal laws,” he wrote. “... This report raises genuine questions concerning the entrusting of such significant responsibilities to the Spring Lake Police Department.”
____________________
Other Information: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=325750
The Spring Lake Police Department was stripped of its remaining police powers Monday, and two of its officers were arrested.
Sgt. Alfonzo Devone Whittington Jr. and Sgt. Darryl Eugene Coulter Sr. were arrested after being indicted by a special Cumberland County grand jury.
About midafternoon, Sheriff Moose Butler and District Attorney Ed Grannis met with Police Chief A.C. Brown and Town Manager Larry Faison to discuss the action being taken against the Police Department.
They delivered an order from Chief District Court Judge Beth Keever saying that all criminal work within the town, including misdemeanors, would be handled by the Sheriff’s Office.
Grannis also said he plans to dismiss all pending misdemeanor cases filed by Spring Lake officers and will evaluate pending felony cases.
The action, which Grannis later called unprecedented, has in effect stripped Spring Lake police of any remaining powers.
The Sheriff’s Office set up a mobile command unit at the Spring Lake Family Resource Center on Odell Road. Butler said roughly four deputies on rotating shifts will work out of that location.
Starting today, all 911calls in the town will be forwarded to the Sheriff’s Office. Residents who need non-emergency assistance should call 323-1500.
Butler could not say how long his officers would handle Spring Lake’s investigations.
“We’re stretched, but we’re going to be here till the issue’s resolved,” he said.
Butler and Grannis met with four members of the county Board of Commissioners behind closed doors following Monday’s arrests.
After the hour-long meeting, board Chairwoman Jeannette Council said the commissioners support Butler providing law enforcement for Spring Lake residents until at least June 3. Council said the county can afford the expense without a special appropriation.
After June 3, the commissioners urged Spring Lake officials to contract with the sheriff to continue the service until town leaders reconstitute the Police Department “as a fully functioning law enforcement agency.”
Late Monday, many Spring Lake officers said they did not know whether they should show up for work today or what the future holds for them.
Town leaders evaded those questions Monday.
“Give us a little time,” Mayor Ethel Clark said before leaving Town Hall. “We’re still formalizing a plan.”
Brown remained in his office after Grannis and Butler left and would not answer questions from reporters. He surfaced briefly to check his vehicle and said, “I got a hot one,” before going back inside.
Faison referred all questions to a news release he said he faxed. He then slipped out of Town Hall to avoid reporters waiting at the rear of the building. The Observer did not receive a fax.
2 officers charged
Whittington, who joined the department in October 2005, was charged with 11 crimes, including embezzlement by public officer, obtaining property by false pretenses, larceny and obstruction of justice. The charges stem from $2,900 that was allegedly taken from the department’s evidence room. Whittington, who also served as the department’s evidence custodian and internal affairs investigator, allegedly took the money between September and January, according to the indictment. He then directed officers to alter reports and lie about the handling of the money. His bail was set at $100,000.
Coulter, who has been with the department since July 1999, was charged with 20 crimes, including breaking and entering, second-degree kidnapping and obstruction of justice.
The charges stem from an April 27, 2008, incident at a home on the 400 block of Vass Road.
According to the indictments, Coulter broke into the home, which was occupied by Mark Anthony Jones Jr., Jimmy Jovan Taylor and Samuel Darnell Wallace. He assaulted the men and forcibly removed them from the home while threatening them with a handgun and a shotgun, kidnapped them and then held them against their will by handcuffing the men.
The indictments allege that Coulter, while supervising three officers also involved in the false arrests, had no legal justification for the actions.
Coulter also was indicted for his alleged actions during an investigation at the Sleep Inn Motel. According to the indictment, Coulter lied when he said he smelled marijuana in a room from which officers seized $2,900. That’s the same money that Whittington is accused of later taking from the evidence room. His bail was set at $250,000.
Both officers appeared before Senior Resident Superior Court Judge E. Lynn Johnson about 4:30 p.m. They were escorted into the courtroom by agents with the State Bureau of Investigation. Johnson read the charges against them and told them the maximum penalty they face for each.
According to Johnson, Whittington could face 24 years, two months in prison if convicted on all charges. Coulter could face 32 years, four months in prison.
Whittington said he planned to hire his own lawyer. Coulter asked for a court-appointed lawyer, which the judge said would have to come from outside the county’s public defender’s office.
String of problems
Monday’s arrests are the latest in a string of problems for the Police Department.
In a letter to the county’s two top judges Monday, Grannis said he first realized the department had troubles in December 2006. It was at that time, the District Attorney’s Office learned Spring Lake officers mishandled child abuse allegations and the subsequent death investigation of 3-year-old Anijah Burr.
He later asked that all homicides be investigated by the Sheriff’s Office and then expanded that request to include all felonies.
In mid-2007, Grannis said he asked the SBI to conduct a criminal inquiry into the department’s narcotics division.
An independent assessment of the department, done at the request of the town Board of Aldermen in late 2007, found a number of problems, including a lack of training for officers, a lack of written directives and the leadership of Brown.
Originally, Grannis said he was concerned that the department lacked trained manpower and expertise. Now, he said, he has a much deeper concern.
Grannis wrote that the department still was under investigation by state agents.
He said the SBI’s report made him “genuinely disheartened” and that many of the questions raised in the report came from officers within the department.
“Within our democratic society, we entrust law enforcement with significant authority and responsibility in carrying out our criminal laws,” he wrote. “... This report raises genuine questions concerning the entrusting of such significant responsibilities to the Spring Lake Police Department.”
____________________
Other Information: http://www.fayobserver.com/article?id=325750
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Officer Ryan Wilcox Arrested for Break-in and Assault
A Chandler Police officer was arrested Monday in connection with an alleged break-in and assault at a home in the Brownsboro area.
Thirty-year-old Ryan Michael Wilcox was booked into the Henderson County Jail Monday afternoon and released a short time later after posting $2,500 bond.
The Henderson County Sheriff’s Department received a call from a woman Monday night telling of the incident. According to the complaint, Wilcox entered the home at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday.
Because the accused in the case is a police officer, the investigation is being conducted by Texas Ranger Trace McDonald.
McDonald, who was working on his arrest report Tuesday, said he did not wish to reveal the address of the break-in or the identity of the victim at this time. He said the break-in was not an attempt to steal from the victim.
“It wasn’t a theft type situation,” McDonald said. “It was a case of him entering a home without consent and committing an assault.”
According to the Texas Penal Code, a person commits a burglary if he or she “enters a habitation, or a building (or any portion of a building) not then open to the public, with intent to commit a felony, theft or an assault”
McDonald and Henderson County Sheriff’s Department Investigator Michael Teal arrested Wilcox without incident.
Athens Review attempts to reach Chandler Police Chief Ron Reeves concerning Wilcox’s arrest were unsuccessful Wednesday.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Two Veteran Officers Arrested for Break-in
London
Two veteran Sarnia police officers have been arrested after a break-in to an apartment unit Sept 19, Sarnia police announced Wednesday morning.
The break-in took place in the 300 block of Christina Street South just after midnight Friday, police said.
The two officers charged were off duty at the time, police added.
Patrick Nahmabin, 34, and Steven Wyville, 39, both 12-year veterans of the police department, were arrested Tuesday.
They were released from custody and are to appear in court Oct. 21.
Both officers were put on leave and face disciplinary charges under the Polices Services Act.
"At this point these are allegations before the court,” Acting Chief Phil Nelson said in a written statement. “We are extremely disappointed and embarrassed by the notion that two of our members may have been involved in an incident of this nature. Conduct of this type falls far short of the standard expected of a Sarnia police officer."
"I want to reassure the community that the Sarnia police service will not tolerate this type of behaviour from its members" Nelson said.
Two veteran Sarnia police officers have been arrested after a break-in to an apartment unit Sept 19, Sarnia police announced Wednesday morning.
The break-in took place in the 300 block of Christina Street South just after midnight Friday, police said.
The two officers charged were off duty at the time, police added.
Patrick Nahmabin, 34, and Steven Wyville, 39, both 12-year veterans of the police department, were arrested Tuesday.
They were released from custody and are to appear in court Oct. 21.
Both officers were put on leave and face disciplinary charges under the Polices Services Act.
"At this point these are allegations before the court,” Acting Chief Phil Nelson said in a written statement. “We are extremely disappointed and embarrassed by the notion that two of our members may have been involved in an incident of this nature. Conduct of this type falls far short of the standard expected of a Sarnia police officer."
"I want to reassure the community that the Sarnia police service will not tolerate this type of behaviour from its members" Nelson said.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Officer Joseph Hughes Back in Custody
MOUNT GILEAD
A police officer already facing charges, including one count of theft in office, is back in custody.
Joseph Q. Hughes, 21, formerly of the Mount Gilead Police Department, has been charged with five more felonies, states a press release issued Tuesday by the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office.
Hughes posted bond after his original arrest on July 8 and was immediately placed on unpaid administrative leave. He is no longer employed by the Mount Gilead Police Department and as of Tuesday still was incarcerated.
Hughes is accused of being connected with two different thefts, one involving 12 window air conditioners and a single-axle trailer and the other involving a lawn mower.
The air conditioners and trailer were found behind Hughes’ home on July 8 during a search. Warrants for a second search of his home and a property on County Road 11 in Morrow County recovered the stolen lawn mower.
Chief Deputy David Davis said Hughes’ second arrest resulted from those search warrants.
“We continued to check out information and obtain the additional warrants,” he said. “We believed there was more stolen property there.”
The five new charges against Hughes include two counts of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony; one count of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony; and a second count of grand theft, a fifth-degree felony.
The fifth-degree felonies carry a possible sentence of 6-12 months in jail, the fourth-degree felonies 6-18 months and the third-degree felonies 1-5 years. Bond is set at $35,000.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brent Yager was assigned to the case and declined to comment on the charges.
With Hughes’ dismissal and another Mount Gilead Police officer on medical leave, the normal force of seven full-time officers is two members short, said Police Chief Brian Zerman.
The situation has caused other changes in the department.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the officers,” Zerman said. “We’ve sat down with our officers and talked about what’s going on.
“Regardless of who it is and what it is, we still have a job to do and an obligation to the public.”
The Mount Gilead Police were investigating the June 9 report of the air conditioner theft. When Hughes became a suspect, Zerman called on the sheriff’s office to take over the investigation.
“Everybody was in shock at first. I guess it was disappointing. It’s one of those things that nobody wants to believe it,” he said.
“There was never indication that this was going on.”
Hughes’ was charged on July 8 with one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; one count of theft in office, a fourth-degree felony; two counts of receiving stolen property, fifth-degree felonies; and one-count of obstruction of justice, a fifth-degree felony.
As an officer, Hughes made $17.35 an hour, and a normal work week was 40 hours.
When asked if there were any other suspects connected with the thefts in question, Davis said the investigation still is pending.
A police officer already facing charges, including one count of theft in office, is back in custody.
Joseph Q. Hughes, 21, formerly of the Mount Gilead Police Department, has been charged with five more felonies, states a press release issued Tuesday by the Morrow County Sheriff’s Office.
Hughes posted bond after his original arrest on July 8 and was immediately placed on unpaid administrative leave. He is no longer employed by the Mount Gilead Police Department and as of Tuesday still was incarcerated.
Hughes is accused of being connected with two different thefts, one involving 12 window air conditioners and a single-axle trailer and the other involving a lawn mower.
The air conditioners and trailer were found behind Hughes’ home on July 8 during a search. Warrants for a second search of his home and a property on County Road 11 in Morrow County recovered the stolen lawn mower.
Chief Deputy David Davis said Hughes’ second arrest resulted from those search warrants.
“We continued to check out information and obtain the additional warrants,” he said. “We believed there was more stolen property there.”
The five new charges against Hughes include two counts of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; one count of breaking and entering, a fifth-degree felony; one count of grand theft, a fourth-degree felony; and a second count of grand theft, a fifth-degree felony.
The fifth-degree felonies carry a possible sentence of 6-12 months in jail, the fourth-degree felonies 6-18 months and the third-degree felonies 1-5 years. Bond is set at $35,000.
Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Brent Yager was assigned to the case and declined to comment on the charges.
With Hughes’ dismissal and another Mount Gilead Police officer on medical leave, the normal force of seven full-time officers is two members short, said Police Chief Brian Zerman.
The situation has caused other changes in the department.
“It puts a lot of pressure on the officers,” Zerman said. “We’ve sat down with our officers and talked about what’s going on.
“Regardless of who it is and what it is, we still have a job to do and an obligation to the public.”
The Mount Gilead Police were investigating the June 9 report of the air conditioner theft. When Hughes became a suspect, Zerman called on the sheriff’s office to take over the investigation.
“Everybody was in shock at first. I guess it was disappointing. It’s one of those things that nobody wants to believe it,” he said.
“There was never indication that this was going on.”
Hughes’ was charged on July 8 with one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; one count of theft in office, a fourth-degree felony; two counts of receiving stolen property, fifth-degree felonies; and one-count of obstruction of justice, a fifth-degree felony.
As an officer, Hughes made $17.35 an hour, and a normal work week was 40 hours.
When asked if there were any other suspects connected with the thefts in question, Davis said the investigation still is pending.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
UPDATE: Officer Accused of Receiving Stolen Property
MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio
A Mount Gilead police officer was taken back into custody after several stolen items were allegedly found inside his home late last week.
Officer Joseph Q. Hughes, 26, of Bellville, was charged with five new counts of breaking and entering, grand theft and evidence tampering.
According to the Morrow County Sheriff's Office, police and deputies executed search warrants at two locations and found several stolen items, including an air conditioning unit that was located at the county courthouse.
Hughes was fired from his police officer job, according to the Morrow County sheriff.
Last week other air conditioning units were found at Hughes' house near the Richland-Morrow county line and another location, The Columbus Dispatch reported.
Hughes posted a $500,000 bond on Wednesday before the warrants were executed later in the week.
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