Salem officer put on paid leave

SALEM — A city police officer has been placed on paid leave because of an allegation that he threatened his stepchild with a gun.

Officer Richard Kimble II denied the allegation, Chief Robert Floor said Friday.

The father of the child, Ross L. Halstead, no address available, filed for a domestic violence civil protection order Thursday in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court.

Magistrate Kathleen Bartlett issued the order without a hearing on any evidence.

The order bars Kimble from having any firearm. Floor said that since Kimble can’t have a weapon, he was put on leave.

The order protects Halstead, his 8-year-old daughter, and an adult woman. The child is the officer’s stepdaughter.

Perry Township police received the complaint from Halstead and the girl at 7:13 p.m. Sunday. A statement was taken and turned over to county child abuse investigators.