Warren cop reprimanded over evidence

Staff report

WARREN

A police officer has been given a written reprimand for failing to properly handle evidence relating to a high-profile stun-gun incident.

Sgt. Michael Merritt picked up evidence from the Richfield office of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation that belonged to former Howland woman Heidi Gill, but the two bags of evidence disappeared and are lost.

The evidence in ques- tion related to the stun- gun incident.

Gill was stunned by Warren Patrolman Richard Kovach as Kovach tried to subdue Gill at the Up A Creek Tavern on East Market Street in 2007.

The incident was captured on Kovach’s in-car video system and was shown on national television and prompted Gill to file a federal lawsuit against the department.

Merritt’s discipline letter says he did not attend the predisciplinary hearing on the matter but that he admitted failing to follow departmental procedures regarding the evidence.