BOARDMAN Cop placed on leave during probe

No charges have been filed against the police officer in the abduction of a woman Sunday morning.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
and SHERRI L. SHAULIS
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
BOARDMAN -- A woman who says she was abducted and threatened by a township police officer said she wants the man to be removed from the force.
"I don't think he should be a police officer because he uses his power to do things like this to innocent people," said Carrie Eckert, 24, of Youngstown. "People trust him and believe he's going to help them, when he can do something like this."
Eckert, who works as a waitress at the Ground Round restaurant on South Avenue, said she was abducted by Lt. John M. Rosensteel, who has roughly 30 years' service with the department, from the restaurant parking lot early Sunday morning.
She said she and a friend had a few drinks after their Saturday night shifts and were joined by some Boardman officers that Eckert's friend knew.
She said they left the restaurant, and one of the officers told her she was going home with him and forced her into his truck when she said no.
"He grabbed me, dragged me and pulled me into his truck," she said. "He shoved me and closed the door."
Eckert filed a police report, naming Rosensteel as her attacker. She said she had never met him before that night.
He threatened her during the ordeal, Eckert said, and she was "deathly afraid of him."
"All I could think was that I wasn't going home to my son that night," she said, referring to 17-month-old Zachary. "It just ripped my heart out that I wasn't going to see him again."
Administrative leave
After Eckert's complaint, Rosensteel was placed on administrative leave, with pay. Boardman Police Chief Jeffrey Patterson confirmed Rosensteel has been on administrative leave with pay since Sunday.
In a memo, Patterson instructed Rosensteel that he is "to take no action that might improperly interfere with the outcome of this investigation," including accessing investigation records or contacting the complainant, her family or witnesses to influence their testimony.
Rosensteel is also restricted from participating in any police-related off-duty employment, according to the memo.
Patterson did not offer any other comment on the case, but in a written statement released earlier this week, Patterson said the leave is standard procedure, and "no inference as to the validity of any pending allegations should be drawn."
Patterson said his department is investigating the matter, both criminally and administratively. He said his officers initiated the investigation the night of the complaint and continue to investigate. No charges have been filed against Rosensteel.
Patterson declined to comment further.
A call for help
Eckert said her attacker drove with her in his truck until he stopped at the Fireplace restaurant on Western Reserve Road to let her use the restroom. From there, she called an ex-boyfriend, who called her mother, who called police.
She said she was forced back into the truck at the Fireplace.
Once she was back in the truck, police contacted her on her cellular phone, and she told them she was on South Avenue. Soon, police pulled up behind the truck, and the officer took her back to the Ground Round lot.
Eckert said she ran from the truck into the restaurant. But, she said, the ordeal didn't end there.
"I live in fear constantly," she said. "Every little noise I hear, I think he's at my house because he found out where I live."
viviano@vindy.comslshaulis@vindy.com