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Mahoning County deputy put on leave after obstruction conviction
YOUNGSTOWN
A Mahoning County deputy sheriff is back on administrative leave after being convicted Tuesday of obstructing official business.
Michael R. Hunchuck, 46, of Poland, was found guilty on a second-degree misdemeanor obstructing charge, downgraded from a first-degree misdemeanor count of falsification.
Sheriff Jerry Greene said Hunchuck was placed back on paid leave Tuesday as the department prepares to investigate the officer, who has worked there about 20 years. Hunchuck makes about $26 an hour, Greene said.
Greene had placed Hunchuck on paid leave after the incident, but Hunchuck returned to the department a month later, was moved off road deputy work and placed in the jail division without a firearm or enforcement officer privileges. Greene said he’d rather have an officer work than be paid for leave.
Greene said he expects the investigation to wrap in early January.
Hunchuck reportedly crashed his vehicle June 15 along Western Reserve Road in Boardman. Hunchuck’s statement to Boardman police and the damage noted contained “several inconsistencies,” according to a township police report.
Video footage obtained showed the crash did not occur at the location Hunchuck stated, according to the report.
Court records show Hunchuck was previously arrested by Boardman police in December 2009 after being accused of operating a vehicle while intoxicated then refusing a field sobriety test.
He later pleaded guilty to a reduced count of reckless operation. He was fined $250 and his jail sentence was suspended. He was also ordered into drug and alcohol counseling.