Deputy suspended one month for violating policies
Dec. 22—LIMA — An Allen County Sheriff's Office deputy has been suspended without pay for one month as a result of violations of departmental policies that occurred following an off-duty altercation at a Lima area bar on Nov. 6.
An internal investigation revealed that Deputy Robert Wintersteller violated policies regarding professional conduct, obedience to laws, rules of conduct, conduct unbecoming an officer and truthfulness following an incident at My Place on Findlay Road in which Wintersteller and another individual became combative, according to information released by the sheriff's office Wednesday.
In a letter to Wintersteller, Sheriff Matt Treglia wrote: "I would like to be abundantly clear; your initial physical altercation with this unknown individual is in no way the cause for which you are being disciplined. Deputies are and will always be permitted to use reasonable force to defend themselves and others on and off-duty, as would any other citizen of this county and state.
"However ... once the initial threat ceased you began to walk away then chose to re-engage this person in a manner that was not within the realm of self-defense. I appreciate that you acknowledged that the second part of this altercation was out of frustration and poor judgment, and you are remorseful for such. However, this action was still a violation of our policies and procedures," the sheriff said.
"Of greater concern in this matter is how you chose to handle the subsequent events. Later that evening when you called deputies to the establishment due to an imminent threat from this individual's friends, you omitted pertinent information when speaking with the deputies and the patrol sergeant on scene. You stated that there was no physical altercation with the subjects you called the sheriff's office about, but failed to mention that just 20 minutes prior you had been involved in a physical altercation with an acquaintance of these people. Last, you willingly distributed videos of this fight to multiple individuals outside of and within this office.
"Please take this discipline as a chance to learn from this experience and grow as a deputy and member of this office," the sheriff concluded.
Wintersteller's shift commander, Lt. Josh Howbert, is reportedly the subject of a related internal investigation for failing to alert supervisors in a timely manner after learning of the incident.
