PIB mayor talks next steps after officer resignations, chief placed on leave

PUT-IN-BAY — After a tumultuous week in Put-in-Bay, village leadership is looking to review the incident and provide a safe environment for island residents and visitors. On Wednesday, Mayor Jessica Dress placed Chief Steve Riddle on administrative leave and accepted verbal resignations from two officers who participated in the incident: Lt. Michael Russo and Sgt. Melissa Wilde. A review of the incident, which occurred outside an island business Saturday evening, is ongoing, Dress said. "The whole point is to hold our officers accountable for their decisions and actions. They have a lot of power carrying that gun and that badge," she said. "The goal is to have as much transparency as possible." Incident background On Saturday, two Put-in-Bay police officers stopped a golf cart that had a driver with eight passengers — six men and three women — for having too many occupants. The ensuing incident — recorded on body cameras worn by officers, video of which is available to view on the Register's YouTube channel — quickly devolved after officers arrested a man and woman. Police drew weapons on the group as they put their hands up, refused orders to get on the ground and questioned why police officers were trying to make arrests. Police used a Taser on three men, and one of those men appeared to have been intentionally kneed in the chest as he was tackled to the ground. Officers charged those involved with felonies, which included assaulting police and aggravated rioting and other misdemeanors. While there is a physical struggle with one man as police arrested him, no distinct assaults of officers are observed in body camera video. Also, at least one man appears to be restraining others in the group from approaching officers and trying to de-escalate the situation. But police still charged that man with assaulting an officer and rioting. In the body camera video, Lt. Russo can be heard threatening to shoot someone and, later, after the suspects were handcuffed and on the ground, tells one that he is "going to prison." The six men were jailed over the weekend. The three women charged received court summonses and were released. On Monday, Ottawa County prosecutor James VanEerten threw out the cases against the six men charged in the incident, and they were released from jail to a cheering crowd gathered to protest. VanEerten said he would likely dismiss the cases against the three women. Resignation disputed Russo contacted the Register on Wednesday and said he and Sgt. Wilde did not resign but were instead placed on administrative leave. Dress refuted that on Thursday. Russo "has not been placed on leave. He gave me his verbal resignation, and I accepted it," she said. Wilde "gave me her verbal resignation, and I accepted it." Dress said this happened during a meeting Wednesday evening, where she was going to also place Russo on administrative leave. She said he interrupted her and indicated he was, instead, resigning. Wilde, who was waiting nearby, then also told Dress she would resign. Dress added that both Russo and Wilde were scheduled to work Wednesday night, but neither did so. The two officers dispute Dress' account of the exchanges they had with her. Plan for the weekend As a review of the incident moves forward, Ottawa County Sheriff Steve Levorchick said he will help the island with policing this weekend. Levorchick said he will have six deputies stationed on the island each day over the weekend to supplement Put-in-Bay's police force. He met with Dress and acting Put-in-Bay police Chief Matt Mariano on Thursday. "First of all, we want to make sure there is a professional law enforcement presence, and we will still enforce the law, always, but we won't do so heavy-handedly," he said. On the mainland, residents don't have to worry about a reduction in police services, Levorchick said. While his deputies work on Put-in-Bay, deputies from the Erie and Sandusky County sheriff's offices will patrol roads in Ottawa County. The village of Put-in-Bay will pay for the wages of the out-of-county deputies during this time. Disciplinary files Neither Russo nor Wilde had any disciplinary records in their personnel files, Dress said. There were two disciplinary actions in Mariano's file, which were provided to the Register: • On Aug. 29, 2016, when he was a sergeant with Put-in-Bay police, Mariano was in an "altercation" with two other police officers when he was off-duty. He received a written warning. • On Aug. 5, 2017, Mariano reported to work four hours late. He received a written warning and wrote a statement apologizing for his actions. Also, in his file, is a March 20, 2017, letter signed by a "concerned island resident." The writer stated Mariano would get "extremely intoxicated and act unprofessional while talking to people about being an island police officer. I've witnessed this several times, and, about a week, ago I was disgusted enough to finally let you know." No documentation was provided indicating the letter or the allegation of excessive alcohol consumption was ever addressed or that he was counseled about it.