A City of Chardon police officer pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanor theft after being accused of removing a price tag from an item at a local store and paying for it using a lower price tag.
Byron W. Childs, 35, of Troy Township, who has been employed as a full-time patrolman since June 2009, was ordered to complete a first offender program, which is a diversion program for persons who don’t have a previous criminal record.
If he successfully completes the diversion program, the theft charge would be dismissed.
Childs was facing a possible six-month jail sentence and a $1,000 fine.
Chardon Police Chief Scott Niehus said Tuesday that Childs had been placed on paid administrative leave Jan. 27, after special prosecutor Ron Graham recommended two days earlier that he be charged with theft.
“The police department will now pursue an administrative investigation and disciplinary process, that could result in discipline, up to and including termination from the police department,” Niehus said Tuesday.
According to a Bainbridge Township Police Supplemental Report, Childs entered Great Lakes Outdoor Supply in Bainbridge Township on Dec. 21, 2016, and physically removed a price tag from a Mission MXB Sniper Lite crossbow and purchased it for an incorrect and substantially lower amount.
A store employee noticed the crossbow missing the next day and found its $599.99 price tag laying on the counter underneath where the bow was hanging. A check of the sales records showed the crossbow had been purchased for $289.99, which was the price tag for an optional accessory package that accompanied the bow.
The store manager then reviewed the surveillance video from the previous day.
Childs is seen removing the $599.99 price tag from the crossbow’s trigger and laying it on the counter. He did not remove from the trigger the second $289.99 price tag for the accessory package.
After speaking with an employee at the gun counter and being told no one was working in the archery department, Childs returned to the archery section, grabbed the Mission MXB crossbow off the rack and presented it at the front cash register for purchase, with only the lower-priced tag attached.
Bainbridge detectives interviewed Childs in his home on Jan. 4. He told the detectives he got a “great deal” on the crossbow, the report stated.
Detectives told him he paid less than half of what he should have paid for the crossbow and shared with him what they saw on the surveillance video.
Childs admitted to detectives he saw the two price tags, but thought the lower price tag was a “sale” price. So, he said he removed the higher price tag so the cashier would not be “confused.”
He also said he recently had bought a pair of boots at the store that were half price, so he thought the bow was marked down and on sale.
When asked why he just didn’t verify whether the crossbow was on sale, instead of removing the price tag, Childs answered, “I don’t have an answer to that.”
He told detectives he would never do anything to jeopardize his job, his position on the SWAT team or his personal relationship with the store’s owner, Geauga County Commissioner Ralph Spidalieri.
Childs said he wished to resolve the matter, offering to return the crossbow or make up the $310 difference.
Bainbridge police forwarded their investigation to Graham, a Lake County attorney and Painesville Municipal Court prosecutor.
Graham filed a one-count complaint against Childs in Chardon Municipal Court on Feb. 16.
The case was assigned to Visiting Judge Larry Allen due to Childs’ employment with the City of Chardon.
Chardon attorney Dennis Ibold represented Childs at the Feb. 27 hearing.