Saturday, October 17, 2009
By Ed Runyan
Two police officers took the lieutenant home after a complaint was called in about him.
WARREN — Lt. Joseph Marhulik of the Warren Police Department mixed prescription medication with a “few” beers Aug. 16 while off duty, drove to two low-income apartment complexes with his son and made inappropriate remarks to several people.
Marhulik has admitted those actions and will serve a 10-day unpaid suspension starting Nov. 2, Warren Police Chief Tim Bowers said Friday.
Marhulik, whose job involves supervision of the department’s concentration on low-income housing complexes in the city, is in line to be promoted to captain. The position opened up when Bowers was promoted from captain to chief last month.
On Friday, Bowers released the internal-affairs report of Sgt. Jeff Cole, who investigated the matter.
In the report Cole says Marhulik admits he drove his city-issued, unmarked police car to the Stonegate Apartments near the former St. Joseph Health Center that night and talked to residents.
An apartment security-guard wrote in a report that Marhulik appeared to be drunk and wearing his police firearm, so she called police about 1:30 a.m.
Sgt. Gary Riggins responded to the apartments, then drove Marhulik to the police station in a cruiser, while Sgt. Michael Merritt drove Marhulik’s car back to the police station. Merritt later drove Marhulik home.
Riggins said Marhulik appeared to be “unsteady and slightly confused” and told Riggins, “I know you guys [police officers] get a lot of calls from this area, and I was just sitting in the area and talking to tenants.”
Riggins and Merritt said they didn’t smell any alcohol on Marhulik and believed his behavior was medically related.
Marhulik admits that earlier that night, he drove to the Hampshire House apartments near Fifth Street Southwest and asked residents if he could buy drugs off them. Marhulik told Cole he was being sarcastic when he asked that question, adding that the residents knew he was a police officer, Cole’s report said.
Marhulik also admitted that he had used a derogatory term for a black person while talking to a man riding a bicycle not far from the Hampshire House apartments and making other derogatory remarks to him.
Another man on a bicycle on Highland Avenue Southwest wrote out a similar complaint against Marhulik from that night.
Cole found that Marhulik violated several provisions of the department’s code of conduct, including one that requires an officer to conduct himself professionally at all times.
He also violated departmental policy by acting unprofessionally while using his unmarked police car, and he violated the department’s firearms policy by consuming alcoholic beverages while carrying his firearm.
Cole concluded that both citizen complaints and the accusations at both apartment complexes were true.
Bowers said Marhulik did not violate any departmental policy for using his police department vehicle while off duty, but he did violate policy by having a nonpolice officer in the vehicle with him. There is no evidence that Marhulik consumed enough alcohol or drugs to impair his driving, Bowers said.
Marhulik said he will not challenge the punishment, Bowers said, so no additional hearings are planned.
Marhulik was eligible to take the test Aug. 20 to challenge Bowers for the position of police chief, but Marhulik said in July he had decided against it because he was planning to retire sometime in 2010.
runyan@vindy.com