ROCKY RIVER, Ohio -- The wife of a Cleveland Heights police officer told her best friend that her husband held a gun to her back during a domestic dispute, according to Rocky River police records.

"She told me a gun was put in her back," the friend wrote in a statement to police. "She was afraid for her life."

The friend's written statement is part of police reports from an Aug. 5 incident at Cleveland Heights police Lt. Sean Corrigan's Rocky River home.

Officers responding to a report of man with a gun threatening to kill himself ordered Corrigan to the ground at gunpoint outside the Elmwood Drive home, according to police reports. Corrigan was handcuffed without incident and taken to University Hospitals for evaluation.

Two of the Corrigans' children -- ages 6 and 11 -- ran to a nearby friend's home. The Corrigans' 8-year-old child was already at the friend's home for a sleepover, according to police reports.

When officers asked Corrigan's wife about the friend's statement she repeatedly denied that Corrigan pointed a gun or threatened her.

"He did not at any time touch me with a gun or point it at me," Corrigan's wife, an attorney, wrote in a statement to police.

Corrigan was unarmed when officers arrested him, but he directed police to an unloaded black Sig Suaer 239 .40-caliber pistol and a magazine loaded with seven rounds inside the home. Investigative reports show the gun was Corrigan's Cleveland Heights Police Department-issued weapon.

Corrigan has been a Cleveland Heights police officer since July 2005, his wife told police. He has been on paid administrative leave since the Aug. 5 incident.

Officers observed Corrigan's wife was crying and shaking.

She frantically begged for help in a 911 call to police.

"Please help me, please help me," she said to the dispatcher. "My husband, he's a Cleveland Heights police officer. He's got a gun. You have to help me."

She said she was sure Corrigan had shot himself during the eight-minute call.

"I ran," Corrigan's wife said. "I'm hiding in someone's backyard."

911 Corrigan

Corrigan's wife and children had moved into the Rocky River home a few days before the incident. Corrigan stayed in the family's Cleveland Heights home that was for sale, according to police reports.

Reports show both Corrigan and his wife told police Corrigan had come to Rocky River to apologize following an argument earlier that day.

Corrigan's wife told police the two struggled for a gun inside Corrigan's Mercedes convertible. When Corrigan pulled the gun away from her, she ran from the car and called police, she said.

Corrigan told police he was trying to keep the weapon away from his wife and he was not trying to kill himself.

Corrigan, 44, pleaded no contest to a charge of disorderly conduct persisting, a fourth-degree misdemeanor, Aug. 30 in Rocky River Municipal Court.

Judge Brian Hagan ordered him to take part in a diversion program that includes undisclosed treatment and probation. The judge also ordered Corrigan not to consume any alcohol, to stay out of the city of Rocky River and to pay fines and costs totaling about $425.

The judge granted Corrigan's wife's request to lift a no-contact order so the couple can discuss their children, counseling, and the sale of the family's home.

Corrigan is a son of the late Cuyahoga County Probate Judge John Corrigan and brother of Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Peter Corrigan.

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