3 women reported Howland cop

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Township trustees accuse the police officer of violating civil rights and department procedures.

By TIM YOVICH

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

HOWLAND — The police officer that Police Chief Paul Monroe wants fired has a background of complaints against him.

Patrol Officer Jeffrey A. Zelinsky's supervisors have gone so far as to conduct an intervention with him, because of what others perceived as him being overbearing with women, according to the account of the intervention in his personnel file.

There were three complaints filed by women against Zelinsky in 2005.

After one run-in with a woman who was under arrest, Zelinsky was ordered to take a class in human relations and conflict management. The file also notes the officer placed himself in front of a combative, intoxicated woman who could have endangered his safety.

Zelinsky is on paid administrative leave and a hearing is scheduled before township trustees at 3 p.m. Oct. 30 to determine if he will be fired.

Zelinsky was suspended by trustees at their Sept. 17 meeting in connection with charges resulting in the arrest of Dr. George Ralph at the dentist's Forest Hill Drive home, where he was having a party.

Zelinsky has not been available for comment.

According to Zelinsky's report of Ralph's arrest, he went to Ralph's home because of complaints of vehicles parked on both sides of the road.

The situation escalated to the point where Zelinsky entered the home and charged the dentist with disorderly conduct and obstructing official business. The report doesn't reflect that any vehicles were ticketed.

Monroe is seeking the termination on grounds that Zelinsky violated Ralph's civil rights and department policies and procedures.

According to his personnel records, Zelinsky was given a written reprimand in 2003 for initiating a pursuit during a traffic stop that led to the crash of a police car.

He received a verbal reprimand in 2005 because he gave false information to the chief regarding a violation of department policy.

Also, there is a July 20, 2005, report written by Capt Frank Dillon, one of Zelinsky's supervisors, of a June 29, 2005, intervention conducted by Monroe and Dillon and Zelinsky's other supervisor, Sgt. Richard Emerson.

The report calls attention to complaints filed against Zelinsky by the three women, who claimed they were verbally abused by him in separate situations.

According to Dillon, he was approached between January and June 2005 by Patrol Officer William Barna of the Hubbard Police Department. Barna, who had transferred a woman in custody from Hubbard to Howland, told Dillon that he felt "Zelinsky is out of line and overbearing in his treatment of women."

It doesn't matter if the women are victims, witnesses or suspects, Barna said.

The intervention, though, wasn't entirely critical of Zelinsky.

At one point, Dillon wrote that both Monroe and Emerson commended Zelinsky's proactive stance, good police work and ability to do the job.

Monroe, according to Dillon, told Zelinsky that citizen complaints are part of the job, and the more an officer does, the more complaints are filed against the officer.

Dillon reported telling Zelinsky during the intervention that should a pattern of complaints continue, an attorney or member of the public may assume or conclude that Zelinsky has a "psychological problem" in an effort to create more controversy.

Zelinsky countered that he didn't know why they were having the discussion, because he hadn't broken any rules or regulations.

Dillon reported giving Zelinsky alternative ways of handling situations rather than "aggressively projecting his authority to get others to comply with his requests."

According to the report, Zelinsky countered that what his supervisors were asking him to do was say, "Pretty Please Sit Down in the Chair" if someone refused to sit down.

Zelinsky's record also contain some positives: In January, he and fellow Patrol Officers Jennifer Carr and Richard Platt were honored by the FBI for initiating a probe that uncovered a murder-for-hire scheme.

On March 19, 2005, they arrested Maridee Costanzo, a local defense attorney at the time, and William Cindea of Warren, during a traffic stop.

During the stop, they found that Costanzo had a handgun in the front of her jeans and Cindea had a stun gun and knife.

Based on the information, it was established that Costanzo, a former congressional candidate from Warren, wanted Cindea to find someone to kill her estranged husband, Warren lawyer Roger Bauer.

Eventually, Costanzo and Cindea were sentenced to prison.

yovich@vindy.com

Monday, October 9, 2006