Pickaway village mayor arrested by own police

The mayor of the Pickaway County village of Commercial Point was arrested Tuesday afternoon at Village Hall by a sergeant in his police department and charged with a felony count of intimidation.

Mayor Gary Joiner, 54, also was charged with a count of obstructing justice, but it was unclear whether that charge is a felony or a misdemeanor. He was booked into the Pickaway County jail later in the evening and is due to be arraigned from the jail by video at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Village Solicitor Mike Hess said he had been en route to a previously scheduled meeting Tuesday at Village Hall when he got word of the arrest. He could not say what, exactly, was behind the charges.

One village source and one law-enforcement source, both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity either because they were not authorized to do so or feared retaliation, said the charges that sparked Joiner’s Joiner

arrest are in connection with additional suspected intimidation of a witness from a misdemeanor case that Commercial Point Police Chief Adam Jordan had filed against Joiner on Friday.

Jordan had charged Joiner, mayor of the village of about 1,600 residents since 2016, with three misdemeanors after the largest homebuilder in the community accused him of illegally dumping trash in a subdivision and then threatening the worker who told him to stop.

Joiner is accused of telling an employee of Westport Homes, “Do you know who the f—- I am?” when the man confronted Joiner about putting garbage into the company’s trash bins at the Chestnut Commons construction site July 9.

The employee, David Baker, wrote in a statement that when he told the mayor the dumpsters were not for public use, Joiner told him he could do whatever he wanted and that he would stop the building on Westport’s projects.

“He then said I was messing with the wrong guy,” Baker wrote.

Jordan charged Joiner on Friday with misdemeanor counts of coercion, criminal trespassing and littering. The mayor had been scheduled to be in Circleville Municipal Court for his arraignment on those charges Thursday.

Joiner is a former police officer with Grove City who still holds a commission as a reserve/auxiliary officer in the village of Ashville, according to state records. Before his arrest, Joiner did not return calls from The Dispatch seeking comment on the charges.

Jordan said he could not comment beyond what was in his police report.

Baker initially didn’t want charges filed because he was fearful of Joiner’s threats, according to the police report.

“Mr. Baker continuously stated to myself that he was worried he would lose his job because of him stopping Joiner from dumping, and that Joiner would now stop any building processes from continuing,” Jordan wrote, adding that he assured Baker there would be protections in place for him.

The chief wrote that he recorded the conversation “as I do believe that fear is what was stopping Mr. Baker from doing any type of action.” The Dispatch asked for the recordings, but the village said they were part of the investigation.

Jordan noted in the report that he contacted the Ohio attorney general’s office and that “public corruption” investigators would be working on the case. A spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office confirmed that the office was contacted, but has not yet received a formal request to get involved.

This is the second Pickaway County village whose police department has filed charges against its mayor. The mayor of New Holland — on the other end of the county — recently was charged by a village police sergeant with complicity to commit forgery. Sgt. Brad Mick was fired after he served the mayor with his arrest warrant. The current interim police chief, who fired the sergeant, also faces charges along with the former police chief.

Hess, Commercial Point’s longtime solicitor, said the day’s events will “kick-start research on my part” to determine whether Joiner can stay in his elected position while facing these charges or what might happen next.

In New Holland, Mayor Clair “Butch” Betzko remains on the job.