Put-in-Bay council delays police chief hearing again

PUT-IN-BAY – The village council on Monday voted again to postpone a previously rescheduled hearing on the future of suspended police chief Robert “Ric” Lampela.

The council voted unanimously to continue the hearing on the chief’s job status until next Monday after the motion was raised near the end of the special council meeting.

George Wilber, legal counsel for the village, asked for the motion to continue the hearing after advising council members of an issue that arose because one of the village’s witnesses was unable to make the Aug. 3 date because of prior out-of-state plans. Wilber also noted that moving the hearing date was done with the consent of Lampela and his attorney.

The motion was raised shortly after the special council meeting came out of executive session, which the agenda described as regarding “pending or imminent court action.”

Mayor Ruth Scarpelli said she was unable to speak about the executive session.

The village of Put-in-Bay was recently named as a defendant in a trio of lawsuits all related to actions of the police department.

Before entering executive session, the village council heard concerns from local residents, several of whom were advocating for a greater law enforcement presence on the docks, as an ordinance restricting loud music is not being enforced to their liking.

“I can’t speak for Chief (Michael) Frank,” Scarpelli said. “But I don’t feel that he wanted to, as being the interim chief, come in here and act like another Gestapo police department.”

Scarpelli said the village has to find a balance.

“We want people that live here and people that come here to feel safe and have a good time,” she said.

The hearing on Lampela is set to take place after the village’s regular council meeting next week.

Lampela was placed on paid administrative leave March 2 by the mayor. He faces four misdemeanor charges and has a jury trial scheduled for Oct. 6.

The charges against Lampela, issued in late February, are in connection with incidents that occurred as recently as this year and as far back as 2003:

•One count of aggravated menacing: He is accused of threatening one of his officers with a gun in 2012.

•One count of dereliction of duty: He is accused of not allowing a police report to be filed regarding allegations that two Put-in-Bay police officers raped a police cadet in 2003.

•Two counts of falsification: He is accused of lying to the Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office when he said that two people did not officially report the sexual assault.

jstinchcom@gannett.com

419-734-7504

Twitter: @JonDBN