Mentor officer suspended for allowing suspect on crutches to escape
MENTOR, Ohio -- A Mentor police officer has been suspended
for six, 12-hour shifts for allowing a suspect on crutches to escape his
custody.
Mentor Police Chief Dan Llewellyn said Ptl. Martin Turek was
suspended for 72 hours without pay. He has been switched to a different shift
and will undergo additional training.
Olivia Weber, 34, of Painesville, hobbled out of the Lake
West Medical Center in Willoughby around 11 p.m. April 26 while Turek was in
the bathroom. She was taken to the hospital because she complained of illness.
She had been arrested for a probation violation on an
earlier charge of possession of instruments of drug abuse.
She was eventually apprehended May 7 at a Concord Township
doctor's office.
On June 11, Weber pleaded guilty to a charge of attempted
escape, a first-degree misdemeanor and was sentenced to 60 days in jail.