Bethany Bruner

Reporter

NEWARK - A Newark Police officer resigned in November after being accused of failing to arrest suspects in "dozens" of cases involving shoplifting at area businesses, a quarterly check of internal investigations revealed.

Jeremy Wesner, 35, resigned his position with the department effective Nov. 4 after being placed on administrative leave.

According to a letter obtained by The Advocate as part of a quarterly check of completed internal investigations, the Newark Police Department was contacted in July by Kohl's. The department store had concerns about charges not being filed against suspected shoplifters after police were called.

The letter, authored by former captain and current Safety Director Steve Baum, said after looking at incidents over a two-year period, it was determined that the number of arrests Wesner made in those shoplifting cases had noticeably decreased.

Baum's letter said surveillance footage from Kohl's showed at least one occasion where Wesner had gone to the store for a shoplifting call, taken a suspect into custody without handcuffing him and walked outside with the suspect behind him. Once outside, Wesner reportedly turned his back and the suspect walked to his vehicle, got in and left the parking lot.

Baum said in the letter that Kroger and Walmart reported similar occurrences. Kroger cooperated with Newark Police's investigation, while Walmart did not.

Chief Barry Connell said Wesner had been assigned to work the north district, which is where much of the retail shopping is located and where most shoplifting calls occur.

After determining there were "dozens of cases" involved, Wesner was given an opportunity to speak with investigators but declined to answer any questions and was placed on administrative leave with pay Oct. 12.

Wesner resigned from his position Nov. 4

Wesner, who had joined the department in 2005, had no prior disciplinary history of significance.

Had Wesner stayed in the department, he could potentially have faced criminal charges for dereliction of duty, Connell said. However, his departure from the department coupled with the steps officers are taking to make sure all potential cases are handled properly have led to the decision not to pursue charges at this point.

Connell said it is hard to speculate what level of discipline Wesner would have faced through an internal investigation if he had stayed on in his position.

Connell said the department is taking proactive steps to make sure there are no other issues with calls Wesner responded to in that two-year period.

Officers will be evaluating every call Wesner went on in the last two years to make sure any potential victims are given an opportunity to pursue cases and charges potentially filed. Connell estimated the process will likely take one to two months, as some calls will be able to be eliminated because other officers responded, reports were filed or charges were filed.

"This is one of those cases where when we were made aware of it, we took proactive action on it," Connell said.

The Advocate was unable to reach Wesner for comment on Wednesday.