AVON, Ohio (WJW) — Video released to the FOX 8 I-Team shows a suburban police supervisor found drinking while carrying a gun.
And, it led us to investigate if he got a break someone like you would not get.
Drinking alcohol and carrying a gun in a liquor establishment can be a felony crime. But no charges were filed against that officer.
Avon police took a 911 call from the manager of a restaurant.
“We appear to have a guest who may be concealing a handgun on his right hip, and he’s consuming alcohol,” he said.
When officers arrived, the manager said, “I noticed it on his hip.”
An officer asked, “He’s been served alcohol, today?”
And the manager said, “Yes, sir. He has.’
Avon officers went in, and they found a familiar face. They realized the man carrying the gun works as a lieutenant with Rocky River Police.
An Avon officer says, “Oh! L-T. Got a complaint about you showing your firearm.”
The lieutenant responds with, “Are you serious?”
In one minute, then, the officers determine there was no crime.
An Avon officer asks, “You got your firearm with you, though, LT?” The Rocky River lieutenant answers, “Yes.” He also estimates he’s had “4 or 5” alcoholic beverages.
An Avon officer asks, “Do you think you’re impaired, right now?” To which the lieutenant says he is not, with the officer saying “You don’t look like you’re impaired.”
With that, the lieutenant said he was leaving, so police let him go, and they told the manager, “So, if he’s paid his bill, and you guys are set, he’s gonna be asked to leave.”
The Avon Police Chief would not agree to an interview with the I-Team. So, we took the video to the Mayor of Avon, Bryan Jensen, who told us that he had no problem with what he saw.
“If they think it was the right call, I think it was the right call,” Jensen said.
We asked, “If that’s construction worker Bob, does he get treated the same way?”
The Mayor said: “I would hope he would be. I definitely support our police in making those decisions. But, again, like you said, I hope they would do that for anybody. It wasn’t just a favor for somebody.”
The I-Team also reached out to Rocky River police. The chief sent an email telling us he was unavailable. But, what happened in Avon is under internal review. The chief says he’s reviewing the report and the video, and he will “address any policy violations.”
Back at the restaurant, the video shows the manager satisfied with no charges against the lieutenant who’d been drinking while carrying a gun.
The manager told an Avon officer, “As long as we’re all safe, that’s all I care about.”
But again, now an internal review of what the lieutenant did, and not of what the Avon officers did. We have not identified the lieutenant since he didn’t get charged, and so far, he has not been disciplined.
