UPDATE @ 8:41 p.m. (Feb. 8): Lt. Charles Wirick is the acting Village of Jackson Center police chief.
The village council, during its meeting tonight, ratified the appointment of the village police department lieutenant made Friday by Mayor Scott Klopfenstein.
Wirick will remain acting chief until further notice as the criminal investigation of Chief Joe Cotterman continues.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, whose investigators are conducting the probe, issued this statement Monday afternoon:
“We will remain professional as we would with any case and will not confirm or deny that there is an investigation against Chief Cotterman.
“As with any investigation we would only release information when we close the case out due to lack of evidence or when we file official charges. We do not as with any case want to falsely accuse someone prior to obtaining all the facts in the case.”
UPDATE @ 10:20 p.m. (Feb. 5):
The Village of Jackson Center is cooperating in the criminal investigation of its police chief, Mayor Scott Klopfenstein said.
“We’re cooperating with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office,” he said in a brief telephone interview. “It’s in the hands of the sheriff’s office.”
Klopfenstein confirmed Chief Joseph Cotterman is on paid leave and that the village council, when it meets Monday night, will deal with the issue of naming an interim police chief.
FIRST REPORT (Feb. 5)
Jackson Center Police Chief Joseph Cotterman is on administrative leave pending the completion of a Shelby County Sheriff’s Office investigation of a criminal complaint.
Village police Lt. Charles Wirick said Cotterman was placed on leave Friday.
The complaint was filed Jan. 27, Wirick said, adding that he cannot discuss the nature of the complaint or who pursued it.
That detail would have to come from Village Mayor Scott Klopfenstein.
Wirick said he does not know where the investigation is at this juncture.
Cotterman has been chief since 2009. The 1999 Botkins High School graduate and member of the Ohio Chief of Police Association joined the police department in October 2002.
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