Rape claims go nowhere

PUT-IN-BAY — There's no explanation from anyone for why complaints about alleged assaults by police officers filed by women aren't available, and Put-in-Bay village officials aren't saying if any investigations were ever conducted. Put-in-Bay Mayor Jessica Dress swears in James Kimble as interim police chief on June 26, 2020. Provided photo The village's police chief, the law director, the mayor and the sheriff aren't responding to questions. None of them has explained why written complaints one of the women filed aren't in the record. They won't say if the record exists, or not, and they won't say if the records have been lost, damaged or destroyed. They won't respond to questions, at all. None of them has explained if police officers accused of rape were cleared or not. They won't say if the allegations were properly investigated, or not, and they won't say if any prosecutor was consulted before decisions were made not to investigate the women's claims. There's no record any prosecutor was ever contacted. Nothing to see here The department, which has previously been mired in controversy, had hoped to turn its perception around and improve upon past failings with new leadership. It was as recently as 2020 and 2021 that they all celebrated a new beginning for the Put-in-Bay Police Department, an era of accountability. "We need to be transparent," said James Kimble during an interview two years ago when he was brought on as interim Put-in-Bay police chief. "You need to know what's going on." Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick also hoped it would be a new beginning for the department. Put-in-Bay police Chief James Kimble, left, and Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick appear on "Between the Lines" on Tuesday, July 7, 2020. Register photo/ERIN CALDWELL The sheriff and the village police have co-jurisdiction on the island, and, at times, the village has considered contracting out law enforcement services to the sheriff and disbanding the island force. But Kimble was the right person to right the ship, according to Levorchick. "We've known each other over 25 years. I know his character, his demeanor. I know how he treats other human beings and he's family, so I know him very well because of that," Levorchick said in the interview conducted when Kimble was first appointed, in 2020. "I knew immediately he was the right person for the job." Mayor Jessica Dress, too, when Kimble was hired as permanent chief about 10 months after being appointed interim, in April 2021, expressed confidence that the department was at the start of a new beginning. "Ensuring the safety of our residents and tourists is of utmost importance to me and village council," Dress said in a prepared statement. "I am confident that Chief Kimble will bring needed leadership to the police department as we gear up for what is sure to be a busy 2021 tourist season." Same again not different Critics — including former employees of the Put-in-Bay Police Department — contend operational dysfunction continues to plague the force, and internal mismanagement is creating an unsafe environment. Levorchick has long been concerned. In 2014 he conducted a seven-month investigation that led to misdemeanor charges being filed against the former police chief, who was convicted but later cleared of charges. Levorchick's law enforcement role came under scrutiny in 2020, however, after a botched investigation of what happened at a July 4 holiday weekend police department drinking and pool party at the home of a part-time Put-in-Bay detective. A new officer with the department reported to a sheriff's investigator that she had an unwanted sexual encounter with the detective, whom she believed to be her supervisor on the force. The sheriff's investigation turned on the woman, however, and a grand jury indicted her for allegedly lying about the encounter with the man, who acknowledged he had consensual sex with her. During the lead-up to the trial, in December 2021, the Register learned about and reported that two other women had filed similar complaints against the same man, one of which Levorchick investigated 12 years earlier. The new officer was acquitted at trial when a judge determined the sheriff's investigation was mishandled and the woman had not lied about what happened at the pool party. Rinse, repeat Since then, there are at least two known complaints against Put-in-Bay police officers accusing them of rape, reports for which have not been provided in full or that don't exist. Here's a breakdown of the known information: • July 3, 2021 — Michigan woman reports being raped by police officers in a seasonal employment dormitory where she was staying. Police filed an incident report and body camera video from an interview with the woman conducted by a non-commissioned officer, who later that same day allegedly disparages the victim urging other officers, during a roll call meeting, to ignore her, and called her "crazy." The accused officer submitted a five-page, written statement to police weeks later after the Register reports about the complaint. In the statement, he acknowledges a consensual relationship with the woman, suggests that she is crazy and discloses that he's stayed in contact with her even after she accused him. There's no record any independent investigation was ever requested or conducted. • Aug. 22, 2021 — Put-in-Bay police Officer Andrew Majercik, in a supplemental report, wrote: "At about 4:30 a.m. (I) responded to (the same summer housing complex) for a report of a female who stated Put-in-Bay officers had sexually assaulted her." In a related report, another officer wrote "(the same woman) came to the Put-in-Bay police department to file a report that she was assaulted by (an acquaintance)." The supplemental report states there were noticeable bruises on her arms, legs neck and back. That incident and photos of her injuries were never reviewed with a prosecutor, and no records have been provided by police or the village law director that show any legitimate investigation of the assault or the rape complaint was ever conducted. The written complaint the woman gave police has not been provided in response to public records requests from the Register. The victim, according to reliable sources, returned to the mainland and to her job the next day, where her boss insisted she go to a hospital after seeing her injuries. Hospital personnel told the woman her injuries were consistent with being choked, and they were required to report it to police. In the weeks that followed, the woman said she and her grandmother were both repeatedly assured an investigation was being conducted, but the record reflects that the suspect was questioned that same day, denied he assaulted the woman, and nothing further was done. About two weeks later, on Sept. 4, 2021, the same woman was being escorted from a downtown bar, handcuffed, when she appears to be assaulted by Majercik. A police body camera video shows the now-former Put-in-Bay officer grab her as she is being walked by another officer down a stairwell. Majercik quickly and aggressively approaches the woman, pushes her to the ground and accuses her of assaulting him. "Kick me again. Watch what happens," he tells her. There's no clear indication in the video that shows the woman kicking him. He then pulls her up from the floor and pushes her hard up against a wall. "See my fist? I will f--- you up," he screams at her, pressing his left hand hard to her back, pushing her face and chest to the wall. The village has not provided any records that indicate the alleged assault was ever investigated. Still more Susan Anderson Provided photo/Roetzel & Andress Records from several other incidents also either were not generated, were somehow damaged or destroyed or are being withheld from disclosure by the village law director, Susan Anderson, who is an attorney with the Roetzel & Andress, a Cleveland law firm that contracts with the village for legal services. • In June 2022, a police officer was accused of holding a knife to the throat of a woman who was renting a house on the island for the weekend, a woman he met while on duty. That officer also was accused of sexual assault by summer workers, according to sources. • July 24, 2022 — Police, according to the sources, also mishandled a person in custody who allegedly attempted suicide — twice — while on station. The woman, wearing only a bikini, used a blanket she was given the first time and then her bathing suit, the second time, according to former police department employees. The area where it happened is under video surveillance 24 hours a day, and officers working in this area are required to wear body cameras. The village law director, however, has refused to say if there is video of what occurred, and she hasn't provided a report of any suicide attempts, which would be public record. Police departments are required to maintain records, including video surveillance, and provide them to anyone who makes a public records request. Anderson has promised an explanation for why no records have been produced for review in response to records requests from the Register, but to date has not provided one. • June 25, 2022 — In a 911 call sent to the Put-in-Bay police, a crying woman tells the dispatcher that, "My boyfriend just beat the crap out of me." Former employees of the department said multiple officers were dispatched and a manhunt commenced looking for the suspect and his vehicle. In the recorded 911 call, the dispatcher calls for an ambulance and reports that the woman said "her boyfriend dragged her down the road with his vehicle."