Six with OSHP reprimanded for failing to check on trooper

Staff report

SOUTHINGTON

The former commander of the Ohio State Highway Patrol post here and five dispatchers have been given verbal reprimands in connection with the activities of a trooper under investigation.

Lt. Joseph Dragovich, commander of the post from April 2005 until April 2, was reprimanded for failing to properly “direct and command the midnight shift” on Nov. 4, 2009, when Sgt. Charles Mendenhall was observed “at a location for extended periods of time,” according to documents from the Ohio Department of Public Safety.

The documents say Dragovich’s discipline is related to the failure of dispatchers to conduct “checkups” on Mendenhall’s whereabouts.

Dragovich was recently assigned commander of the patrol’s Lisbon post.

A patrol spokesman in Columbus said the agency is not releasing details on the Mendenhall investigation at this time.

State documents did indicate that the patrol investigated Mendenhall’s actions and that the investigation began after the highway patrol received an anonymous complaint.

The internal-affairs documents say dispatchers Sheri D. Smith, Dawn S. Garland, Shelley R. Town, Josa T. Guarnieri and Gayleen A. Littell were given verbal reprimands for failing to issue checkups on Mendenhall during Mendenhall’s shift, as required by departmental regulations.

All five dispatchers work in the Ravenna dispatching center, which handles calls for patrol officers at the Southington post.