Girard officer still on leave

By jeanne starmack

starmack@vindy.com

girard

A Girard patrol officer remains on paid leave as an investigation into underage drinking at his residence winds down.

Police Chief Jeff Palmer said he expects to have a decision Tuesday on whether Officer Larry Neely can return to work.

The officer is on leave while the department finishes an internal investigation into whether he knew about a party in a garage at his house that police said included underage drinking and marijuana.

Palmer said interviews with 21 people have slowed down the investigation, which he expected would be finished by Friday. He said there are still a few interviews left to do.

He said that misdemeanor criminal charges are likely against some of the people at the party. Some were juveniles, and some were adults, but too young to drink.

Police caught 19 teenagers in the garage about 11 p.m. Feb. 8.

A police report said they smelled marijuana and saw beer cans on a pingpong table.

Neighbors said last week that they never noticed any noise or saw a lot of teenagers at Neely’s residence.

“I never noticed anything from that house at all,” said a neighbor who did not want her name printed. “They seem like quiet people.”

“It sounds to me like it was just a bunch of kids,” she added. “They were seeing what they could get away with.”

Another neighbor, Louis Ruggiero, said he never noticed noise or teenagers.

“A very nice guy,” he said of Neely. “We never see them.”