[OH] Sgt Mitchell 45 hang-up calls aren't harassment of ex

Jury finds police officer not guilty of harassment
Toledo Blade, OH
May 19, 2005

A Clay Township police sergeant was found not guilty yesterday in Oregon Municipal Court of harassing a former girlfriend last summer. Sgt. Terry A. Mitchell of Genoa was charged with one misdemeanor count of telephone harassment in September. He pleaded not guilty. A jury deliberated for about an hour after a day-long trial before finding him not guilty, according to court officials. Sergeant Mitchell was suspended for three days in September while Oregon police investigated the allegations that he made about 45 unsolicited phone calls to a former girlfriend who lives in Oregon from the beginning of June until mid-July, township police Chief Roger Schultze said.

FROM 2004:

Records reflect other complaints
Port Clinton News Herald, OH
By Kristina Smith
September 23, 2004
A Clay Township sergeant charged in Lucas County with harassing his ex-girlfriend was disciplined in 2002 for harassing a Genoa man and woman. Clay Township Police Chief Roger Schultze gave Terry Mitchell, 40, a verbal warning and ordered him to meet with a counselor in July 2002... The Oregon police detective who investigated a misdemeanor telephone harassment charge pending against Mitchell in Oregon Municipal Court could not find documentation of the complaints in Mitchell's personnel file because Schultze removed it. Schultze said Wednesday he removed the complaint a year after he disciplined Mitchell because it is a procedure he follows and outlined in the discipline letter. "I thought he was protected by the 12-month thing," Schultze said. "But I found out that's not really true." He said he plans to put the complaint back into Mitchell's file. The Ottawa County Sheriff's Office also investigated a harassment complaint a Clay Township woman filed in 2001 after her domestic violence arrest and determined there was nothing to indicate Mitchell had done anything wrong... The sheriff's office gave the complaint to Schultze to handle internally, and Schultze said he investigated and also found no wrongdoing. Schultze said he didn't add the report to Mitchell's file because the sheriff's office handled it. When Oregon Detective Sgt. Paul Magdich viewed Mitchell's personnel file, he asked Schultze if there were any internal investigations into Mitchell, calling them "IA" investigations, Schultze said. Schultze said he didn't know what Magdich meant and did not show him the complaint or discipline letter he wrote to Mitchell... The Genoa man who filed the complaint was married to a Genoa woman who dated Mitchell. He accused Mitchell of talking to his wife while on duty, blowing him a kiss and following him in his car... The Oregon report also cites four other incidents, including an anonymous letter, of woman accusing Mitchell of improper conduct, but there were no formal complaints. Genoa Police Chief Mike Graalman also told the Oregon detective his department often gets complaints from women about Mitchell's behavior, according to police reports. Schultze, however, said Graalman never notified him of any complaints.