Friday, May 25, 2018
By Justin Wier
YOUNGSTOWN
A former Lowellville police chief pleaded guilty Thursday to stealing more than $2,500 from a home while picking up a body as a coroner’s investigator.
A plea agreement reduced a 10-count indictment against Richard Jamrozik to two felonies and four misdemeanors.
Jamrozik, 41, of Campbell, pleaded no contest to attempted aggravated assault, a felony, and obstructing official business, possessing criminal tools and domestic violence, all misdemeanors. He also pleaded guilty to felony theft in office and misdemeanor obstructing official business.
Visiting Judge Thomas J. Pokorny found Jamrozik guilty on the counts to which he pleaded no contest Thursday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
As a condition of the plea agreement, Jamrozik will surrender his Ohio peace officer’s training certificate which will forbid him from serving in law enforcement.
The theft in office charge occurred in August 2015 when Jamrozik stole $2,500 from a man while performing his duties as a Mahoning County Coroner’s investigator.
Several of the remaining charges resulted from accusations that Jamrozik abused his then-girlfriend between July 2015 and July 2016.
The indictment accused him of striking her with a golf club, splitting open her skull; hitting her in the head with a piece of furniture, causing her to lose a tooth; and striking her in the ear with a long lighter, causing hearing damage.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Dan Kasaris, who prosecuted the case, dismissed the charges related to the assault with the lighter.
Charges of felonious assault and tampering with evidence that resulted from the golf-club assault were reduced to attempted aggravated assault and obstructing official business, and the charge of felonious assault that stemmed from the assault with a piece of furniture was reduced to misdemeanor domestic violence.
Kasaris agreed to stand silent at Jamrozik’s sentencing, which has yet to be scheduled.
He will be ordered to pay $800 in restitution to his ex-girlfriend and $2,500 on the theft in office charge, according to the terms of the plea agreement.
Jamrozik resigned as Lowellville’s police chief in August 2016 after agreeing to a five-year civil-protection order filed by the woman.
He was sworn in as police chief in November 2015. Before that, he worked as a coroner’s investigator from 2002 to 2015.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation began its investigation of Jamrozik in May 2016. The U.S. Marshals’ Task Force and county sheriff’s office assisted in the investigation.