Former Avon Lake fire chief pleads to criminal cases

The former chief of the Avon Lake Fire Department pleaded guilty July 17 to a trio of misdemeanors.

Glen Eisenhardt, 41, of Medina, was indicted by a Lorain County grand jury June 11, 2017, on single counts of extortion, unauthorized use of property and telecommunications fraud.

As part of a plea agreement with the Lorain County Prosecutor’s Office, Eisenhardt pleaded guilty to charges of coercion, attempted unauthorized use of property and attempted telecommunications fraud.

According to court documents, the amended indictment holds a possible penalty of 450 days in jail and a fine of $2,750.

Lorain County Prosecutor Dennis Will said the biggest penalty is that Eisenhardt’s certifications to be firefighter were revoked and he no longer can act as a public servant.

“We have not pushed for any kind of incarceration, and we’ll see how it goes with (Lorain County Common Pleas Court Judge Raymond Ewers),” Will said. “The biggest thing is to accomplish what I thought was important here, and that was that he no longer had the ability to be a public servant.”

Will said the investigation was kicked off when his office received a complaint.

The investigation revealed Eisenhardt had hacked into someone’s computer system, which is a crime, the prosecutor said.

“He utilized information there to make threats or try to intimidate them,” Will said. “Based on the totality of the investigation, he was charged with three different felonies.”

When asked if Eisenhardt could get around the loss of his certifications by moving to another state and applying for a public servant position, Will said it wasn’t likely.

“You can certainly try that,” he said. “But if they do any kind of a background check, which they usually do, your prior problems come up.”

Will said as part of the plea, Eisenhardt has agreed not to pursue a firefighting certification.

Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka said the city accepted Eisenhart’s resignation/retirement effective July 16.

Based on the Fire Department’s collective bargaining agreement, Eisenhart will receive earned benefits.

“Obviously, we learned yesterday that Glen Eisenhardt, an Avon Lake Fire Department captain, has plead guilty to three misdemeanor charges,” Zilka said. “The charges were brought against the firefighter after an investigation of anonymous threats that were sent to another city firefighter.

“The city began the initial investigation immediately upon learning of these allegations. And we fully cooperated with county and state authorities as they further investigated the matter.

“We respect the court’s judgement and reaffirm our legal and moral commitment to protect all city employees from harassment in the workplace in any form. We will be reviewing our personnel policies and procedures with our staff.”

Eisenhardt is scheduled for sentencing at 1:30 p.m., July 25, before Ewers.