A
Clay Township police officer is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 11 on 27 felony
charges.
Ralph
Cierpial, 36, of St. Clair, is being charged with 27 counts of unlawfully
granting pistol safety training certificates, a four-year felony.
Online
court records show Cierpial will be arraigned on the charges at 2 p.m. Dec. 11
in front of Magistrate S. Keith Bankson.
“Obviously
our concern is when a person chooses to carry a concealed weapon and chooses to
do that to protect themselves, the state and, frankly, local law enforcement
are interested in making sure they have the right level of training to do
that,” Prosecutor Mike Wendling said.
Cierpial
was a National Rifle Association certified instructor and charged for the
service, Wendling said. After questionable training certificates were brought
to the county gun board, an investigation was started.
Wendling
said more than 300 people were interviewed and every certificate issued by
Cierpial was reviewed.
“The
fact that he happens to be a police officer happens to be of no relevance to
us,” Wendling said. “I won’t say it’s not disappointing, but it’s not
relevant.”
Clay
Township Supervisor Artie Bryson said Cierpial is on administrative duty and
does not have his gun or badge.
“On
Nov. 14, 2013, Clay Township received notification from the St. Clair County
Prosecutor Michael Wendling that the St. Clair County Sheriff Department
obtained a twenty-seven (27) count felony warrant for Ralph Cierpial,” Bryson
said in an email. “The warrant is for unlawfully granting/presenting-pistol
training certificate.
“To
keep the integrity of the Clay Township Police Department in place and the
seriousness of the allegations, Officer Cierpial was immediately taken off of
street duties and placed on administrative duties. Depending on pending
adjudication of court proceedings, appropriate actions will be swiftly taken.”
Bryson
said the township will handle the situation appropriately.
“Basically,
he’s innocent until he’s proven guilty, and like we said, it’s an unfortunate
situation, but we’re going to deal with it appropriately once there’s a
determination on his guilt,” Bryson said.
Clay
Township Police Chief Don Drake said Cierpial has been a full-time officer for
about two years.
“We
always assume he’s innocent until proven guilty,” Drake said.
Cierpial
did not respond to an email requesting comment. His lawyer, Daniel Garon, could
not be reached for comment.