1 of 4 charges in trial of ex-chief Lampela dismissed

PORT CLINTON — The prosecution moved to dismiss one of the four counts against former Put-in-Bay police chief Robert "Ric" Lampela after the state rested their case at the end of the first day of Lampela’s criminal trial.

Prior to the dismissal, Lampela was facing four misdemeanors charges: dereliction of duty, aggravated menacing and two counts of falsification. The dismissed charge was one of the counts of falsification.

That specific complaint alleged that Lampela knowingly lied to a detective when questioned in 2014 regarding an incident that took place four years earlier in which he unholstered his pistol when quizzing another officer about the Second Amendment.

The aggravated menacing charge stems from that same 2010 incident.

In the 2014 interview with Detective Joel Barton of the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office, Lampela told the detective that after he unholstered his weapon, he released the magazine and “put it on the table.” Continuing, he then racked the slide back and ejected the chambered bullet and “put it on the table.”

It was noted in court that Lampela said it twice when describing the incident to Barton.

The criminal complaint of falsification alleged that Lampela was referring to the gun being placed on the table, which did not accurately reflect what happened.

However, upon cross-examination, Barton testified his interpretation has always been that Lampela was referring to the magazine and the chambered bullet being set on the table.

Defense attorney Angelo Lonardo also moved to dismiss the aggravated menacing and other falsification count following the state resting its case. Visiting Judge James Hoover, retired from Crawford County, overruled both motions.

The trial will move forward with the three remaining charges. It is scheduled to begin again at noon Wednesday in Ottawa County Municipal Court.

Aggravated Menacing

Officer Jeff Herold, now with the Euclid Police Department, took the stand as the state’s first witness. At the time of the gun incident in 2010, Harold was a sergeant with the Put-in-Bay Police Department.

That evening in March began with a “State of the Island” address. Herold said the Lampela was visibly upset. The only other full-time, year-round officer employed by the department at the time, Matthew Plesz, testified that Lampela was upset because he wasn’t previously spoken to regarding his department having to patrol Perry’s Monument, which was mentioned by a state park official at the address.

Harold, Lampela and Plesz then went to the bunkhouse where officers generally resided.

During discussions that night among the three of them, which Herold described as Lampela’s typical “ranting,” the then-chief began asking Herold about the amendments to the Constitution.

This was something Lampela regularly quizzed his officers about.

When Herold didn’t answer Lampela’s question regarding the Second Amendment, he raised his voice and asked again, this time with the gun unholstered and slide racked.

Both Herold and Plesz testified that the gun, though it remained pointed in the air, was within inches of Herold’s head.

Herold testified that he did feel threatened but he didn’t pursue any criminal action against his chief because he wanted to keep his job and continue supporting his family that lived with him on the island.

“I was more worried about getting fired than anything else,” Herold said.

Both Herold and Plesz were recording their encounters with Lampela at that point because they claimed they were concerned about potentially being fired for an unjust cause.

Plesz testified that the incident concerned him to the point that he put his hand on his own gun and pressed the holster release, prepared to draw on Lampela “if need be.”

Plesz said, despite the magazine being removed and the chambered bullet ejected, because the slide did not lock back and he was unable inspect the weapon as it was in Lampela’s hand, he had no way of knowing whether another bullet could have still been in the gun.

Plesz said he was following one of the cardinal rules of firearm safety, treating every gun as if it were loaded.

Dereliction of Duty

The state also called two former female Put-in-Bay police officers that alleged they were drugged, sexually assaulted and raped in 2003 by another officer at the time.

They both testified that they reported the incident to Lampela in August 2003, but that he refused to make a report on it and continually harassed them as a result.

The first woman, a seasonal officer with Put-in-Bay from 1999 to 2003, recalled the encounter when they said they brought the allegations to Lampela. The other female officer was already in the chief’s office. She said she could already hear yelling as she approached.

When she walked into the office, she testified, Lampela, the other woman and the alleged rapist were there. She said the other female officer was irate, screaming and crying.

Both women testified that was when the alleged perpetrator admitted to the rapes and Lampela told him to keep quiet.

“He raped (the first female officer) and I and you’re not going to do anything about it?” the second woman said she asked.

“I will not let two whores take down my department,” Lampela responded, according to their testimony.

The second officer then swiped everything off of the desk in the office and the first woman pulled the second woman out of the room, they testified.

Both women have filed federal civil lawsuits in connection with the incident. In 2003, they both also filed complaints with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, which do not mention the alleged rapes nor sexual assaults. They testified that was because an OCRC official informed them they would not take that specific complaint because it was criminal, not civil.

The second female officer also testified that she left voicemail messages reporting the incident to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office in 2003, but never received any call back.

The other falsification charge against Lampela is regarding his response to a question from Barton about whether this incident occurred, to which Lampela responded, “No, never, never.”

jstinchcom@gannett.com

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Twitter: @JonDBN