TOLEDO, Ohio — A Village of Marblehead police officer has been fired from his job for misusing a law enforcement database for personal reasons.
According to his personnel file from the Marblehead Police Department, Chief of Police Kenn Thellman lodged a formal complaint against Officer Michael Scherer on July 11 for misuse of the Ohio Law Enforcement Gateway, "numerous times over a two-year timeframe," which is a violation of Ohio Revised Code.
The allegations came to light during a background investigation when Scherer applied for a job as a police officer at the Bowling Green Police Department.
According to a "background investigation summary" in the personnel file, during the investigation conducted between June 24 and July 2, BGPD Chief Tony Hetrick interviewed Scherer and several references.
In a report submitted to Thellman, Hetrick said he spoke to a woman who Scherer had listed as a former roommate and ex-girlfriend, who said Scherer was, "neither honest or reliable." She also stated that "Michael 'scares' her as a police officer."
She also alleged that Scherer would run license plates through OHLEG while off duty and outside the scope of law enforcement. She claimed Scherer conducted searches on her child's father and her neighbors, as well as cars that had committed traffic violations in front of him while he was off duty. She said he also performed OHLEG searches at the request of his mother.
That information was passed along to Thellman, who filed the complaint against Scherer on July 11 and further reprimanded Scherer on July 12 for other behavior.
In a letter on the same date, Thellman wrote to Scherer that he had received numerous complaints from residents at Bay Point Resort and their management company regarding Scherer's spending excessive time there while on duty. Thellman outlined complaints of Scherer's police car being parked on Bay Point Boulevard "in excess of 5 hours, which is unacceptable, Scherer attending a garage party until after 4 a.m. and having "an unidentified female in the police car."
Scherer was ordered to not socialize within Bay Point at any time on duty, to only enter the area in an official police capacity and to return his swipe card for access to Bay Point to the chief.
Thellman also reprimanded Scherer regarding a complaint from Marblehead Mayor John Starcher that Scherer had locked his pet dog in the council meeting room unattended. Thellman said, "This will never happen again- period."
During this time period, it's believed the investigation into Scherer's improper use of OHLEG was ongoing, because on July 18, he was suspended "pending mayoral review" of the situation.
In a document listing the same date, Thellman said an audit corroborated Scherer's ex-girlfriend's claims that he performed searches on people off-duty.
"After an audit was completed on account: Mscherer49223 and compared with your timesheets for a 2-year period there were found to be over 124+ inquires run through OHLEG on your login, while you were off the clock and your shift was either over or had not started yet, also inquiries were made on days that you were scheduled off."
Scherer was fired on July 22.
But, before his three-year employment with Marblehead Police, Scherer had shorter, yet similarly troubled, stints at other northwest Ohio police departments.
According to the background investigation conducted by Hetrick, Scherer was hired by the Toledo Police Department in 2018 and was the subject of an internal investigation there before he resigned in December 2019.
Hetrick stated that the TPD investigation was prompted by a complaint filed by the Oregon city prosecutor, and after the internal affairs investigation, charges of "abuse of authority" and "conduct unbecoming an officer" were recommended. Scherer resigned before a hearing on those charges could take place.
Scherer also worked part-time for the Woodville Police Department from October 2020 to June 2021, according to Hetrick's report.
Hetrick spoke to Woodville Police Chief Steve Gilkerson as he conducted Scherer's background investigation and stated that Gilkerson was aware Scherer had resigned from TPD pending an internal affairs investigation but decided to give him a chance.
Gilkerson shared an incident in which Scherer, during his time with Woodville police, "gave a female a ride to a hotel near Perrysburg or Rossford, OH. Michael allegedly lied to his dispatcher, and he said he was picking up/dropping off equipment in Genoa, OH, which is the opposite direction."
Scherer eventually resigned right before Woodville police began an internal affairs investigation on him. Gilkerson speculated it was because he wanted to avoid a possible termination.
Hetrick asked Scherer if that was true, but Scherer said that he resigned from Woodville to start his new job with Marblehead Police.
Scherer could face criminal charges for accessing OHLEG for personal use.
On July 26, a Sandusky County grand jury indicted former Sandusky County Common Pleas Court probation supervisor Barth Downie on three fifth-degree felony counts of "Unauthorized use of Property" for misusing the database.
Each count carries a penalty of six to 12 months in prison and $2,500 in fines.
It is not clear whether criminal charges are being sought against Scherer.
In February, our 11 Investigates team discovered that since June 30, 2021, there have been at least 850 officers in the state who were forced to resign or retire. Of that total, more than 385 have been hired by other departments. The numbers resulted from our analysis of the Ohio Peace Officer Training Academy database.
Prior to June 30, 2021, no reasons were given for separations in the database. Now, all of that information is available to the public without making a records request. Scherer was under investigation in Woodville, according to a source, when he resigned on June 2, 2021, four weeks before reasons for separation were attached to OPOTA records.