Ex-Campbell chief Rauzan pleads to misdemeanors, his cop days are over

CAMPBELL

Andrew Rauzan, a former Campbell police chief, pleaded guilty this afternoon to four first-degree misdemeanor counts of unauthorized use of property.

Mahoning County Common Pleas Judge Lou D’Apolito sentenced Rauzan, 43, of Campbell to one year's probation and a $1,000 fine.

As part of the plea agreement, Rauzan agreed to forfeit his Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy certificate and to never work as a police officer again. Rauzan, an attorney, also will have to self-report the plea agreement to the Ohio Bar Association.

The charges, filed by Daniel Kasaris, a special prosecutor with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, and Paul Gains, Mahoning County prosecutor, pertain to unauthorized use of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway (OHLEG) system. OHLEG is an system that allows trained members of law-enforcement agencies to share data.

Rauzan admitted he misused the database on four occasions between May 2013 and July 2015, according to a bill of information filed Aug. 8 in the Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.

Mayor Nick Phillips had fired Rauzan in November after a woman, who had a warrant out for her arrest at the time of the incident, came forward to say Rauzan had sexually harassed her in the police gym in July 2016. Phillips contacted the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, a division of the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, about the allegations, which prompted Kasaris’ investigation of Rauzan. Prosecutors became aware of Rauzan’s misuse of the OHLEG system during the course of that investigation.

Rauzan later reached an agreement with the city in which he was allowed to resign in exchange for the city rescinding his firing. That agreement, signed Jan. 27, prohibits Rauzan from suing the city about the circumstances of his suspension, termination or resignation.