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Investigation focuses on 2 ex-Vienna cops
By Jordan Cohen
VIENNA
Two former township police officers who resigned last week in the wake of the disappearance of $1,500 from the police department safe are the focus of a “criminal investigation,” according to the Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office.
“This is a criminal probe, and we are hoping to interview [the ex-officers] as soon as possible,” said sheriff’s Maj. Tom Stewart, the lead investigator.
The two, Jeffrey Ford, 35, and Nicholas Maccione, 28, part-time officers in Vienna since 2004, tendered their resignations after an internal police investigation. Township Trustee Heidi Brown said she had requested the two resign. Trustees turned the information over to the sheriff’s office and have declined to comment further.
The $1,500 consisted of “block-watch funds and Christmas money,” according to Police Chief Brian Darby, who said he first learned about the disappearance from Ford last July. Darby also has declined to comment further pending the outcome of the deputies’ investigation.
Stewart said Thursday that the $1,500 is still missing. “None of that money has been returned,” the chief investigator said.
Darby was strongly criticized by a number of township residents during last week’s trustees’ meeting for his handling of the matter.