Kim Wendel,
LAKE COUNTY -- The Lake County
Sheriff's Department arrested Timberlake Police Chief David Phillips, 38, and
Timberlake Police Officer Carrie Ann Murray, 36, Friday afternoon in Parma.
They charged Phillips with two
counts of theft in office and tampering with records and Murray with two counts
of theft in office, all felonies.
Both are being held at the Lake
County Adult Detention facility in Painesville.
In October, the Bureau of
Criminal Investigation started an investigation. Both Phillips and Murray were
suspended without pay Oct. 17 and Geoffrey Esser has been serving as acting
police chief.
A Lake County grand jury found
that, according to the indictment, between October 2012 and November 2013,
Phillips and Murray stole "property or services" valued at $7,500 or
more. They used their status as public officials "in aid of committing the
offense or permitted or assented to its use in aid of committing the
offense."
Lake County Prosecutor Charles
Coulson said the two could be arraigned as soon as Monday in Lake County Common
Pleas Court.