ELMORE, Ohio — Matt Damschroder, who has been the mayor of this small Ottawa County village since 2013, is facing a misdemeanor assault charge after a local businessman said Damschroder attacked him on April 28.
Elmore police were called to 352 Jackson St., just past 9:30 on that Sunday night. They found John Kaylor sitting on a couch, bleeding from multiple lacerations on his face. The location is the shop for Kaylor’s business, Kaylor Plumbing, Wiring & Heating Inc.
Kaylor was then transported to St. Charles Hospital. During an interview with Ottawa County sheriff’s deputies, captured on body cam obtained Friday morning by 11 Investigates, Kaylor says the men, along with at least two other men, were talking most of the evening.
At one point, Kaylor says Damschroder got agitated and threw something at him. The object missed him, but Kaylor says two men escorted Damschroder out of the shop.
“I grabbed my dog and said we’re going home,” Kaylor told the deputies. “And then he comes at me, and this is the end result.”
In the video and hospital photos, several cuts are seen on Kaylor’s face and his right eye is severely swollen. His knuckles and legs had multiple abrasions, something that Kaylor said happened when he was knocked to the ground.
After the interview, the deputies went to Damschroder’s home, arriving around midnight.
On additional body cam video, it appears as though Damschroder is initially reluctant to open the door, but he eventually invites the deputies into his home.
During the interview, the mayor admits that he was with Kaylor and that they had spent several hours talking.
“I know John Kaylor,” the mayor says.
“So he’s saying he got beat up by you. He’s got a bunch of lacerations on his face. Were you over there?”
“I was,” Damschroder admits.
“Can you tell me how that could have happened to him?”
“I have no idea,” Damschroder says.
At one point, the mayor shows the deputies his hands to indicate that there were no cuts or abrasions. When the deputies ask to see the clothes he was wearing, Damschroder provides a shirt, pants, and shoes. When deputies point to spots that appear to be blood on his shirt, Damschroder denies it, saying they were just red spots.
After a deputy says they were told by Kaylor that Damschroder threw an object at him, the mayor abruptly ends the interview.
“At this point, we’re going to call my lawyer. I’m not answering any more questions,” Damschroder says.
Damschroder was then informed that he was being arrested for misdemeanor assault and was placed in hand restraints and his wife was told that bond would be $4,025.
Damschroder, the former president of village council, became mayor in 2013 when longtime Mayor Lowell Krumnow died of a brain tumor.
An 8:30 a.m. arraignment has been set for May 15 in Ottawa County Municipal Court for Damschroder.