Put-in-Bay police keep rape at bar probe down low

PUT-IN-BAY — There have been no arrests after an alleged sexual assault inside an island bar Aug. 1, and Put-in-Bay police won't say if they've interviewed the victim, witnesses or the alleged suspect. The Register learned about the complaint from a reliable source and contacted police that same day. An assistant Erie County prosecutor who moonlights as a detective for the Put-in-Bay police responded two days later to an inquiry sent to police Chief Steve Riddle, acknowledging the incident had been reported."I can confirm our department is investigating a complaint regarding a sexual assault alleged to have occurred at Mr. Ed's Bar and Grill, 300 Delaware Ave., Put-in-Bay, Ohio, and reported to police shortly thereafter on or about Aug. 2, 2019, at approximately 00:02," Battista wrote, using a private email address and replying on behalf of Riddle."If you have questions or concerns, please contact me," Battista wrote in the Aug. 4 reply, under Chief Riddle's e-signature.Riddle does not respond to calls or written inquiries from the Register, although responding to such inquiries are a responsibility of the chief. Battista also has not responded to emails directed to him or phone calls since writing the email for Riddle.In his reply, Battista provided inaccurate information about the Ohio Public Records Act, stating it required that all other information be kept secret while an investigation is continuing. The Act, ORC 149.43, requires all information initially obtained when a call or complaint is made to police be included in an initial incident report, which is public record, before an investigation is started.The Register told Battista about the error and a day later the police department sent an initial report, but it also failed to include the information in the complaint required to be in an incident report.Sources told the Register the suspect in the Aug. 1 sexual assault complaint had left the island and police were reviewing surveillance video from the bar. It's not known for certain if Battista or some other PIB detective interviewed the suspect or witnesses. They did not talk with the Ottawa County prosecutor about the complaint until late last week.It does not appear any search warrant was issued to obtain the video surveillance from the bar, or if anyone from the police department is qualified to pull it or would have the technological skill to know if there were gaps in the timeline of the surveillance video.The Register learned about a prior suspected rape and assault on the island after publishing a news story about the Aug. 1 sexual assault allegation. In that incident, a year earlier on Aug. 5, 2018, a woman says she lost awareness after having two drinks at Mr. Ed's island bar. She woke up the next morning deathly ill in the home a bartender at Mr. Ed's shares with other bar employees, she said.The woman said she called the Register after reading about the Aug. 1 complaint, fearing that what happened to her — getting ignored by police — would happen to another woman.The bartender told her he found her outside another island bar, beaten and with her pants unbuttoned, she said. He told her he and a friend took her to his home. She went to a hospital Aug. 26, 2018, after her injuries from the assault worsened and provided details of what she remembered about what had happened, including names and places, to hospital personnel, she said. Hospital employees — mandated reporters — called Put-in-Bay police and relayed the details to them. A call report by the police, however, appears to be inaccurate and does not include any of those details. The complaint was opened and closed by police in less than one minute, generating just three sentences. "An anonymous female called Aug. 26, 2018, to report that she had possibly been raped. When asked when the possible rape occurred, the caller stated that it happened on Put-in-Bay and it was on Aug. 5, 2018. Caller stated she wanted to stay anonymous."The alleged victim said she did not call police but was assured by hospital employees that the information and details were called in by hospital staff. It's unknown how the false information about an anonymous caller got into the call report, or why police did not ask any questions about the assault or document any details.The call report does not list a phone number from which the call was made. The Register asked Riddle if the department has a dispatch system that records calls and made a public records request for the recording of that call, if it exists. Riddle has not answered about whether there's a recording.The alleged sexual assaults on Aug. 5, 2018, and Aug. 1, 2019, are the second and third known complaints of that kind connected to Mr. Ed's bar. In 2015 a bartender at Mr. Ed's was indicted for allegedly drugging a female patron and raping her. The initial report about that incident filed by police falsely stated the victim did not want to pursue charges. The bartender was later acquitted at trial.The Register has pending public records requests to the police for the recording of the Aug. 26 dispatch call, and the personnel files for police officer Jeremy Berman, a part-time volunteer detective with the police department who was named detective of the year in 2018. *Editor's note: This story has been modified to correct the date when the assault is alleged to have occurred. It happened late on Aug. 1, 2019, and an investigation was started early Aug. 2, 2019. Put-in-Bay police Chief Steve Riddle