Etna Township trustee gets into altercation with staff member
Licking County Sheriff Office’s deputies were called after an Etna Township trustee got into an altercation with a township employee Feb. 6.
A sheriff ’s office case report redacted the names of the people involved, but trustee and Board President Rozland Mckee confirmed to the Advocate that the call was made about fellow trustee Mark Evans.
According to the report, Mckee called the sheriff ’s department at about 2 p.m. When the deputy arrived at the township hall, one township employee was leaving because Evans had arrived at the hall wearing a body camera and they did not feel safe. Once inside the township hall, the deputy spoke with Mckee, who said she was also leaving.
The deputy left but was called back a short time later by another employee who claimed they were assaulted by Evans. The employee said they had received a message from the other employee who had left, asking the remaining employee to close their laptop.
When the remaining employee went to do as requested, they found Evans on the employee’s laptop. The employee reached over the desk to close the laptop and Evans grabbed their arm, pushing them back, according to the report.
The deputy took statements from Evans, the employee, and a witness, as well as photos of the victim’s arm.
The sheriff ’s department report states no charges will be filed until the deputy sees the footage from Evans’ body camera that he had requested Evans provide.
The township’s regular trustee meeting was canceled for Tuesday night and Mckee said it was out of concern for the safety of herself and township employees.
“Yesterday, the look that I saw from Trustee Evans, I didn’t feel good about that,” she said Tuesday. “I was scared. I mean, I seriously was scared. I don’t feel that I could sit beside him in a room right now until we figure out what we can do to protect myself and also protect the employees.”
She said the incident was still fresh and wanted to let things calm down.
Employee safety, Mckee said, was part of the reason the township placed security cameras in the township hall last fall. But those were deactivated after Mckee and staff learned Evans had been logging into the system. An investigation found Evans logged into the system 140 times.
Evans referred questions about the incident to his attorney, Robert Barga, who declined to comment because the matter is still under investigation.
The township employee involved, who the Advocate is not identifying, declined to comment as well.
This is the latest incident involving the Etna Township trustees. The board spent 2022 consumed by fighting on matters big and small — from the security cameras, whether to hire a fulltime township administrator and township hall décor.
Mckee said she did not know when the township reschedule the meeting. mdevito@gannett.com 740-607-2175
Twitter: @Mariadevito13