Written by Kelly Kaczala
The Lucas County grand jury
recently indicted a former police chief of Walbridge for gross sexual
imposition.
Timothy Villa Sr., 67, of 6960
Kinsman Drive, Sylvania, was indicted on October 8 for allegedly engaging in
sexual contact with a female employee of Data Research, Inc., 5650 West Central
Avenue, Suite D, Sylvania. Data Research, Inc., is a private investigation firm
owned by Villa, according to Jeff Lingo, chief of the criminal division with
the Lucas County prosecutor’s office.
“The incident allegedly
occurred at his place of business this year on June 16,” Lingo told The Press
last week.
The case will be assigned to a
judge and to a prosecutor before it is set for arraignment, according to Lingo.
“He will enter a plea to the charge, then the case will go forward, just like
any other criminal case.”
Conviction of sexual imposition
is a felony, he said.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal
Investigation, which is run by the Ohio attorney general’s office, investigated
the incident, said Lingo, because Villa was a former police officer in Sylvania
Township several years ago.
“To prevent the appearance of
impropriety, it was felt to let an outside agency do the investigation, which
makes perfect sense,” said Lingo.
Villa had been a police officer
in several northwest Ohio communities before he was hired as chief in
Walbridge.
He came under fire shortly
after becoming chief when village council learned he had been dismissed as a
Walbridge police lieutenant in 1978 for alleged infractions that included
insubordination and unauthorized absences. Mr. Villa at the time filed suit and
settled out of court with the village for $1,500.
Council had asked Villa to
resign in June, but he refused to go.
Meanwhile, a growing number of
residents had called or his dismissal at packed council meetings, particularly
after a series of investigative articles appeared in The Press that detailed
Mr. Villa's sketchy career as a police officer in other communities where he
had served, including Elmore, where he was fired for allegedly making false
reports and for conduct unbecoming a police officer, and Sylvania Township,
where he resigned after allegedly making a false arrest of a teenaged clerk.
Criticism of Villa rose after a
background check of a police officer he had recommended for hire in Walbridge
failed to show the cop was fired from the Holland police department for
allegedly making sexual comments to several women, many of whom had filed
lawsuits. The officer’s name was dropped from consideration after The Press
obtained an internal affairs investigation report of the officer in Holland and
broke the story about the accusations against him.
After four months, Villa
resigned as chief, but not without getting $21,000 as part of a severance
agreement from the village.
Mr. Villa's nearly four month
term as police chief of Walbridge was the shortest on record.
Villa later filed a civil
lawsuit against the Village of Elmore and Sylvania, as well as The Press
Newspapers, but it was dismissed.
