For the first time ever, we are featuring just one situation in an It Could Be Worse column. It is in two parts, not too vaguely reminiscent of the famous one-two punch of boxing fame: a first sharp jab that shakes you up, but just as you realize you survived it, the second slammer hits you like a truck and takes you down for the count. This "one" punch was a painful, but certainly not fatal, Cincinnati Enquirer newspaper article in February of this year featuring the Butler County (OH) Sheriff's Department. Most things settle down in time, and this may have also, except for a group of investigative reporters from WCPO television who came barreling down about a month later with the killer "two" punch. So here is the hottest, not to mention the scariest, news to our readers.

NOTE: The second section is a transcription of a video news investigation. The statements are typed as they were spoken, regardless of correctness. Some portions in brackets are this editor's summaries in the interest of space.

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The Cincinnati Enquirer
February 4, 2003
By Janice Morse
Butler sheriff tightens property room

HAMILTON - After two employees resigned last year and pleaded to misdemeanor charges involving missing money, the Butler County Sheriff's Office has been conducting an internal audit of thousands of pieces of stored evidence.

Sheriff Harold Don Gabbard said the investigation entered a new stage Monday. One by one, about 10,000 items are being documented and transferred to a new property room equipped with additional safeguards to prevent employees from stealing or mishandling items, the sheriff said. "I'm going to try to seal it up so tight that a fly couldn't get in there without being caught," the sheriff said.

Already, sheriff's personnel have spent hundreds of man-hours doing a preliminary internal audit and investigating additional accusations of property-room improprieties, said Lt. Mike Craft. So far, the audit showed seven guns remain unaccounted for, along with about $4,681 in cash, Craft said.

Record-keeping problems could be to blame, so "there's a chance that we could find some or all of these " seemingly missing items, he said. But Craft also acknowledges additional discrepancies could surface after everything is checked and logged into a new database. "There will be clarity at the end of the audit," he said. The process will probably take two more months, officials said. Then they will decide whether more criminal charges or disciplinary action will need to be pursued.

"We're doing everything we can to make this right," Craft said. Relocation of the property room and revamping its outdated evidence tracking system had been in the works since at least 1995, said Art Sauerwein, who oversees the property room. Transferring evidence from the former county jail to Resolutions, the county's minimum-security jail, would have required a re-inventory anyway.

But the process is under increased scrutiny because of last year's events. Two ex-employees admitted taking small amounts of money, Craft said. However, the women also said they had improperly deleted about 2,000 entries from the property room's database, Craft said. Donna K. Henderson, 36, and KarenA. Gilbert, 35, resigned their positions and were placed on probation last May after each pleaded guilty to unauthorized use of property and dereliction of duty. In signed court documents, the women stated that, to their knowledge, "no weapons and/or controlled substances were illegally removed" from the property room while they were employed there.

The county prosecutor's office reserved the right to proceed with additional criminal charges if evidence surfaced indicating otherwise, court records say. "We are not stating that every problem in the property room is attributed to the two ex-employees," Craft said. "If: at the end of the audit, the evidence points the finger in another direction, we fully intend on taking action against those individuals who are responsible."

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Butler County Missing Evidence
Reported by: WCPO I-Team
Web produced by: Stacy Puzo
3/3/03 11:22:05AM

WCPO anchor on set: "Tonight an I-Team report that has gotten results ... even before it airs tonight. It's the result of a three-month investigation into the mess in the property room of the Butler County Sheriff's Office. At stake ... missing evidence that led to the convictions of some people. I-Team reporter Stephen Hill joins us."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on set: "Let's say right off the top ... this investigation is not about the many employees of the Butler County Sheriff's Office who do their jobs right each day. This I-Team investigation is about what's missing and some of the reasons. The sheriff's office blames its old computer systems. But the I-Team has found additional reasons: ... needy employees ... and a failure to follow policies."

A former Butler County Sheriff's Office property room custodian, on camera, talking to Hill: "It was ran like a shopping center. Anybody wanted anything they could just come into the property room and take it."

A former Butler County Sheriff's Office property room custodian, on camera talking to Hill: "That's exactly what it was. It was a free for all of property."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "Where did the money go?"

Commander Art Sauerwein: "I can't tell you. It still hasn't been found to this day."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "The mess in the property room at the Butler County Sheriff's Office surfaced when a drug agent couldn't find $2,255 in this locked safe. That was more than a year ago."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "So we're sitting here at least a year removed ... you're the commander of the property room ... and you have no idea where that money went or how it left that property room?"

Commander Sauerwein, on camera: "We've been unable to determine where the money went to."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "The missing money has exposed deep seated problems in the property room, ... has put the people responsible for addressing them on the hot seat: Sheriff Harold Gabbard and the man he made Property Room Commander, Art Sauerwein. Not long after the money came up missing ... the sheriff's office did a gun and money audit. The department called it thorough."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "So how many pieces of property would you say you audited? Is it several hundred? A couple thousand?"

Lieutenant Mike Craft, on camera: "Total picture? Well, everything you seen in them
boxes ... we've gone through every one of those."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "Looked at every weapon?"

Lieutenant Mike Craft: "Everything that was in the boxes we had gone through to cross reference with our sheets."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "But that audit of thousands of property slips in these 10 boxes ... was not thorough. The I-Team discovered that as we searched through those public documents. We asked the sheriff's department to find or account for 30 pieces of evidence and property. In its own audit  ... the sheriff's office concluded $4,681 dollars are missing. The I-Team discovered it's more than that. Add to the list a $50 bill, $381 in another case and $3,348 in a third case. Now the total amount of missing or unaccounted for money is almost 85-hundred dollars. The sheriff's audit discovered eight guns are missing: guns like a 9mm pistol, a .410 gauge shotgun and a 22-caliber rifle. The I-Team went a little further. Add to that list ... a Pioneer CD player, a collector's knife, a valuable knife collection, magazine clips for a gun and boxes of ammunition, triple beam scales, and some type of explosive."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "How could anything ever come up missing or unaccounted for in this property room? Part of the answer: ... poor record keeping and what some former employees call a shopping center mentality of some in the sheriff's department."

A former Property Room employee, on camera, talking to Hill: "They explained to me as it was a shopping center, that they could come and go as they please and get out whatever they wanted to get out from the property room."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "These former sheriff's employees should know. They chose to talk if we hid their identities. When they worked in the property room they spent money they found here and took some clothes."

Former Sheriff's employee, on camera, talking to Hill: "Like I said we had other people that came into that room and removed things and they told us to label it as law enforcement use."

Former Sheriff's employee: "We didn't think there was anything wrong with it."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over tape: "These former employees say some deputies got still cameras for their patrol cars, a detective got music CDs for her office and Lt. Craft got but did not open a VCR for law enforcement use - none of them had court orders okaying it."

Lieutenant Mike Craft, on camera: "I mean it's common for law enforcement officers to have stuff assigned to them that they sign out of the Property Room for law enforcement use."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "Do they have to have a court order to do that?"

Lieutenant Mike Craft: "No well, not to my knowledge. I could be wrong. But."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "Is there a danger in going to the property room and converting something to law enforcement use without having a court order or a judge's approval? Because where is, where do you draw the line?"

Lieutenant Mike Craft: "Um, not to me I don't see the danger but maybe there is."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "... it could be when you have a Property Room with two out-dated computer systems ... and what the sheriff's office admits is poor record keeping. Sometimes a property slip says an item still exists, then it'll say destroyed, then that's scratched out because there's no way to prove it was destroyed. other records will say money tied to a case is in the safe ... when it's not. Finally, some records say an item's on a specific shelf ... in a certain spot ... but no one can find it. Add to all that ... almost no record of managers doing oversight for several years."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "Art Sauerwein's been commanding the property room since mid-95. Public records show he's responsible and accountable for all aspects of the property room; in charge of forming and putting into action official policy. Sauerwein reports directly to the sheriff."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "At some point I may want to comeback and interview you again. Would you be available?"

Commander Art Sauerwein, on camera: "Yeah, I'll be more than glad to."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on camera: "That was the end of our first and only interview with Sauerwein back in December. Since then ... he's accused the I-Team of conducting a malicious and reckless investigation and declined a second, on-camera interview. The messed-up property room Sauerwein inherited almost eight years ago .. .is messed up today ... partly because the agency failed to follow its own policies. Each month Sauerwein is supposed to do a routine inspection. The department says it doesn't have records showing he did."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "Policy calls for inventory checks each time someone new starts working here. The department says there is none. And each May ... the investigations section commander is suppose to do an annual inspection. Those don't exist either. The sheriff's office says it's cleaning up this mess as it moves everything to its new, state-of-the art property room. And the sheriff says there will be new rules on how this place should operate. Will it be new rules under the same manager?"

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on set: "To this day ... we don't know what Lieutenant Mike Craft will recommend to the sheriff. In the meantime ... the sheriff's office is bar-coding every piece of evidence and property it moves into its new property room. That way it'll have as accurate a record as possible of what evidence and property it can find and what it can't."

Follow-up Report:

Butler County Missing Evidence
Reported and Web Produced by: I-Team
Updated: 03/04/03 16:00:28

WCPO anchor, on set: "The Butler County Sheriff's office is a police agency, so you'd think it would know how to do thorough and detailed investigations of alleged theft. So why didn't it do that all the time when investigating allegations workers improperly or illegally took things from its own property room? I-Team reporter Stephen Hill joins us with some possible answers."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on set: "The answers may boil down to who's a friend of Sheriff Harold Gabbard and who's merely a sheriff's employee."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "What did you take and when?"

Former Butler County Sheriff's Office employee, on tape: "I had a dress coat, like a summer-style dress coat."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "She's a former Butler County Sheriff's deputy who took things from the property room when she worked here. So did this woman."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "They have discovered you have taken something from the property room?"

Second former Butler County Sheriff's Office employee, on tape: "Urn-huh." (A positive response.)

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "What was it?"

Second former Butler County Sheriff's Office employee, on tape: "A tee shirt."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "And they spent money they found in the property room. They didn't have authorization to do it?"

Lt. Mike Craft, Butler County Sheriff's Office, on tape: "That is correct."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: These cases may prove the Butler County Sheriff's Office can aggressively investigate alleged wrong-doing by its own people. That's important for an agency discovering guns, money and other items are missing from its secured property room. It's important, too, if the agency wants to rebuild its integrity in the public's eyes. But the I-Team has found the sheriff's office has not always aggressively investigated when it discovered items missing from its property room.

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "What did you do wrong?"

Former Butler County Sheriff's Office employee, on tape: "In retrospect, it's the unauthorized use of that money that was there."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "Those female employees who took from the property room resigned then plead guilty to misdemeanor criminal charges. Sheriff's investigators first interviewed them when they were trying to figure out who took $2,255 from this locked safe. During that investigation, the sheriff's department read Miranda warnings to nine employees - including the two females - and then formally interviewed them. Some of those employees had almost nothing to do with the property room, but the agency did not do the same for two people who had access to the property room. It says it never interviewed deputy Kenny Chestnut and it says it did not Mirandize and did not do a formal interview with property room Commander Art Sauerwein. No one's accused them of stealing the money. Sauerwein and Chestnut are friends of Sheriff Harold Gabbard."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape, outside of Jack Radar's house: "Mr. Radar? Steve Hill from Channel Nine News. I want to talk to you about the sheriff's department. Can you talk to us?"

Jack Radar, on tape: "'Bout what?"

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "This man's another friend of Sheriff Gabbard. He's Jack Radar. The sheriff hired Radar to work in the property room. A few months later, Radar took home - without authorization - these valuable baseball cards. When a property room coworker asked Radar did he take them, records show, Radar lied."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "Is there anything wrong with this?"

Sheriff Harold Gabbard, Butler County Sheriff's Office, on tape: "Well, the only thing I can I can see here is that he probably might have been a little scared, a new employee or whatever."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "When Radar was about to take a polygraph, he changed his story. He told the truth."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "You can't talk to us about taking the baseball cards out of the property room?"

Jack Radar, on tape: "There was nothing taken."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "You brought the baseball cards home, did you not?"

Jack Radar, on tape: "Yeah."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, on tape: "Did you have authorization to bring those cards home?"

Jack Radar, on tape: "No."

[The Major who normally conducts internal investigations into thefts did not investigate Jack Radar's case. The Sheriff decided to do it himself.]

Major Anthony Dwyer, Butler County Sheriff's Office, on tape: "You know, Jack Radar was a part-time employee, well-known to the sheriff. And the sheriff apparently made the decision to conduct that himself"

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "Who did Sheriff Gabbard interview? Records show Jack Radar but not the other property room worker who made the original allegation. And the sheriff did not ask the prosecutor for advice in this case as he did in others. Sheriff Gabbard says he alone decided there was no criminal intent."

Sheriff Harold Gabbard, Butler County Sheriff's Office, on tape: "Well, uh, as I look at it, when a person commits a crime uh you have to show intent. And, uh, in my opinion here since, uh, if things happen the way he said they did and, uh, I got no way of proving otherwise, uh, then I can't see intent."

Stephen Hill, I-Team reporter, voice over video: "The sheriff's department did not criminally or civilly charge Radar with anything. The sheriff allowed Radar to resign."