Photo : Columbus Police Handout

55-year-old Andrew Mitchell, a 30-year veteran of the Columbus Police Department in Ohio, was arrested by federal authorities on Monday. According to the Department of Justice, Mitchell kidnapped several women “under the guise of making an arrest,” before forcing them to have sex with him in exchange for their release.




Mitchell, who was placed on desk duty in September after the arrest of Stormy Daniels in a Columbus strip club led to a misconduct investigation, has also been under investigation for the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Donna Castleberry, a mother of two. Mitchell stabbed Castleberry before shooting her three times, claiming she drew a knife after an “altercation” in the back of his unmarked police vehicle.

Last week, CBS affiliate WBNS revealed that Mitchell’s rental properties have been linked to more than 600 police calls since 2013. His arrest was first reported by WBNS.


Mitchell, who was assigned to the Vice Unit in March of 2017 after joining the force in 1988, has received extra police protection since being placed on leave. He was indicted last week on three counts of depriving individuals of their civil rights under color of law and two counts of witness tampering, along with a single charge of obstruction of justice. His indictments were unsealed Monday.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Todd Wickerham called the accusations “shocking” and “revolting,” according to the Daily Beast.

According to WBNS, Mitchell is believed to have arrested nearly 200 women over the last two years while he was detective for the city’s Vice unit. O ne such woman told the station that she was charged after refusing sex with him. According to U.S. Attorney Benjamin Glassman, Mitchell lied when questioned by the FBI.

“Specifically, when they asked if he had sex with prostitutes,” Glassman said at a press conference Monday, “he lied to them.”


Of his hundreds of arrests, authorities allege Mitchell victimized at least three women, trading oral, vaginal and anal sex in exchange for their release.

As Franklin County Prosecutor Ron O’Brien prepares to present Castleberry’s case to a grand jury within the next month, Donna’s family was still reeling from the loss of their loved one.


“We have been working for six months,” said Bobbi McCalla, Donna’s sister. “It will be seven if it goes into April since my sister was killed. I think we are due answers.”

“It’s been hell,” said Donna’s mother Michelle Dalton. “It’s still sa d, it’s still really sad.

