CARROLL TOWNSHIP — A Carroll Township police officer was arrested Sunday morning and charged with domestic violence after a woman called 9-1-1 and whispered that she needed help.
William Windnagel, 56, was charged with one count of domestic violence, a first-degree misdemeanor.
When officers arrived at a residence in the 7500 block of West Salem Carroll Road moments after the call came in, a woman came running out, according to the report.
During the investigation, according to the report, Windnagel refused to answer questions, and the woman expressed fear that she was going to be killed by Windnagel.
She told officers the two had gotten into an argument and that he refused to allow her to leave the house and forcefully held her on a sofa, the report says.
After Windnagel was arrested, the report says, investigators obtained search warrants for the West Salem Carroll Road property and vehicles located on the property and for a garage at a Titus Road location in Carroll Township.
Information about the search warrants was not made available since the matter is an open investigation, separate from the domestic violence incident, the spokesman said.
Carroll Township police Chief Jody Hatfield asked the OCSO to handle the matter, since Windnagel is employed by Carroll Township.
He is employed on a part-time basis according to an Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office report.
Windnagel retired from the OCSO about five years ago, according to a department spokesman.
Hatfield said Windnagel is on unpaid administrative leave until a departmental hearing can be held.
He was released from the Ottawa County Detention Facility on Monday after making an initial appearance in Ottawa County Municipal Court, a jail spokeswoman said.
Windnagel’s bail was set at $8,025, she said, and he is scheduled to appear in court again on Dec. 11