NEWS

No major infractions in captain's file

Craig Shoup
Reporter

FREMONT - The personnel file of a Fremont police captain who is on paid leave shows only minor infractions during his 20-year career in the department.

A review of the 450-page personnel file of Captain T.J. Woolf revealed several commendations for investigation, a number of on-the-job injuries, some traffic crashes and an alleged derogatory statement made to an evidence clerk.

Woolf, 46, is being paid his regular salary of $34.83 per hour since being placed on paid administrative leave Nov. 10, pending an internal investigation being conducted for undisclosed reasons.

The city's safety service director, Bob Ward, has declined to comment on the nature of Woolf's suspension, but said the department hopes to make a decision soon on the captain's status.

With his suspension, Woolf becomes the third officer to be suspended this year, joining K-9 officer George Dorsey, who ended up resigning, and former police chief Tim Wiersma, who retired.

Woolf was hired as a patrol officer 20 years ago on Wednesday — Nov. 25, 1995.

Before joining the Fremont police, Woolf was a Sandusky County Sheriff's Deputy serving as a corrections officer.

Several deputies recommended Woolf for the police department job when he applied in 1995, but his supervisor at the sheriff's department, Scott Ickes, did not.

Ickes' said Woolf was "immature" and that he tried to stir up trouble in the department. Ickes also said Woolf only focused on negatives about situations, describing Woolf as "not perfect, but not the worst, above average deputy."

As a Fremont officer, Woolf received praise for his work providing security for Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Terra State Community College in 2012, as well as for his role in various investigations.

The derogatory remarks made by Woolf as noted in his file were directed towards evidence secretary Meredith Dray during a pre-shift police briefing on June 21, 2010.

Woolf commented that "officers worked on getting some evidence issues figured out since the secretary would not," regarding his perceived lack of activity on receiving ballistic reports for the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation and Identification.

Woolf, who was a sergeant at the time, was given verbal counseling by then-captain Jim White — now the interim police chief — asking Woolf to conduct problems with other employees in a positive nature. White asked that Woolf address evidence problems in the future through the police chief or his superior officers.

Woolf then wrote a rebuttal letter to White, saying Dray neglected several responsibilities regarding ballistic reports, rape kits and a robbery video that Dray allegedly left blank.

There were no other office misconduct charges in Woolf's file, but there were several incidents in which the police officer was either hurt or injured on the job.

In 2007, Woolf was injured and cited for not turning on his police cruiser's overhead lights and siren when he was involved in a crash on West State Street after hitting an Eagle Taxi while speeding.

The driver of the cab, John Hasselbach, of Clyde, was attempting to turn left into a parking space at Hillside Bar when Woolf's cruiser collided into the taxi and three parked cars.

Following the crash, Woolf was treated for a laceration and  injuries to his head, neck and forearm.

Hasselbach was taken to a Toledo hospital, where he was treated for two cracked vertebrae.

While training and on duty, Woolf sustained minor injuries including being bitten in the head by a Tiffin Police canine in 1997 while searching for a suspect, and burning his hand while picking up a hot gas grenade canister in 1998 during a training session.

Woolf was also injured during a traffic stop in 1996 when a woman drove off while he was reaching for her keys in the ignition. Woolf was dragged 20 yards down the road before freeing himself and rolling to safety.

During an incident in 1997, Woolf hurt his hamstring when he and sheriff's deputies were assaulted by an intoxicated woman at the Sandusky County Jail.

Woolf received reprimands during his career for using improper language in 1999 and not conducting a crash investigation correctly in 1997.

In 2013, then-Chief Wiersma wrote Woolf up for clocking into work at 7:53 a.m., one minute before his shift began at 7:54 a.m.

cshoup@gannett.com

419-334-1035

Twitter: CraigShoupNH