Warren cop asked about evidence

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

An officer with the Warren Police Department has been administratively charged with failing to follow departmental policy while handling evidence belonging to a woman at the center of a 2007 police-Tasering incident.

Sgt. Michael Merritt received a letter last week from his supervisor, Capt. Tim Roberts, saying he violated two policies regarding professional conduct.

Merritt picked up evidence from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation in Richfield on April 16, 2008, including two bags of evidence belonging to Heidi Gill of Niles. Those bags of evidence are now lost, Roberts said.

A hearing was Monday to allow Merritt to respond to the two charges. Police Chief Tim Bowers has 10 days to decide what punishment, if any, will be issued. Termination is not one of the options for this offense, Bowers said.

Bowers said he ordered a thorough inventory of the department’s evidence system after the evidence came up missing.

Bowers said he is not able to discuss what the missing items are or whether he has any idea where the items went.

Bowers is seeking a legal opinion from the city’s insurance company on what he can say about the incident because the city is named as a defendant in a federal lawsuit Gill filed July 31, 2008.

Gill, who was Tasered by Warren Patrolman Richard Kovach in September 2007 at Up A Creek Tavern on East Market Street, filed suit against Kovach, the city, the former Warren police chief and Warren safety director.

The suit says Kovach’s actions, which were videotaped and shown on national television afterward, caused Gill to experience various health problems.