HIGHLAND HILLS, Ohio – The village of Highland Hills and its former police chief are embroiled in a dispute over whether its police department erred when it took in more than two-dozen guns – including several military-style weapons – and sold them to a Painesville business in exchange for store credit.

Village officials have asked the Ohio Auditor’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate the matter, which occurred under the leadership of former village police Chief Antonio Stitt. The former chief, however, believes the request is politically-motivated because he was previously a mayoral candidate running against interim Mayor Michael Booker in Tuesday’s general election.

Booker and new police Chief Dalton Preston say the department violated village policies when it accepted the guns, because village council must approve gifts worth more than $5,000. They also question why the police department used the store credit it received for the guns to buy uniforms and other equipment, despite the fact village officers receive an annual uniform allowance.

Booker denied the matter is related to politics. He said he believe the department, under Stitt, improperly sold the guns for a $19,000 store credit, instead of depositing the money into the village’s general fund.

“It was nothing to do with politics,” Booker said. “It has to do with us clearing the books on some bad finances.”

Stitt resigned as Highland Hills’ police chief June 21, after Booker raised concerns that his candidacy constituted a conflict of interest, according to a copy of Stitt’s resignation letter. Stitt also withdrew as a mayoral candidate Oct. 3 after a group of village residents challenged his voter registration.

Stitt has denied any wrongdoing in the matter involving the guns. He said he cleared the sale with former Highland Hills Mayor Robert Nash, who died last year.

“This is political,” Stitt said. “The interim mayor and his staff are making something out of nothing.”

Stitt said he was not aware of the village’s policy on gifts worth more than $5,000 when he accepted the guns. He also noted that the policy says the mayor must report those gifts; it does not mention department heads.

“I would never violate a policy, or run my department in a corrupt way,” he said.

The guns

The village’s police department acquired the guns back in 2017. A Highland Hills employee asked the police department to take them in from a friend whose husband owned them before he passed away, Stitt said.

They included 27 AR-15 rifles, two AR-18 rifles, a 9mm handgun, a .50 caliber machine gun and an M16 rifle, records say. Booker, who served in the U.S. Marine Corps., described the last two guns as assault weapons designed to take out multiple targets within seconds.

Stitt said he contacted Atwell’s Police and Fire Equipment in Painesville because the department had previously bought guns there.

Stitt said that he told Nash, who was in favor of the sale because the police department could use the store credit when it needed new uniforms or equipment, instead of requesting money from the village’s coffers.

“This was in no way taking money from the village,” Stitt said. “This was saving the village money.”

Atwell’s paid $19,650 for the rifles and the handgun, which was credited into an account with the business, according to a receipt dated Oct. 25, 2017. The business did not buy the .50 caliber machine gun or M16 rifle, which have been stored in a safe at the police department ever since.

The background checks

Preston, who served as a detective with the Cleveland police department, was hired July 1 in Highland Village. He discovered the two large guns days later and told Booker, he said.

Booker, who served as president of the village council before becoming interim mayor, said he knew nothing about the guns until Preston told him.

Several Highland Hills village council members also told cleveland.com they were not aware the police department took custody of the cache of guns until earlier this year. But council member David Mills said he did not see an issue with Stitt’s actions.

“I think they’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” Mills said.

Village officials said they have been unable to find any records related to the guns, including reports proving their serial numbers were checked to make sure they were not stolen or connected to any crimes. Stitt said one of his sergeants kept those records, and believes the police department should still have them on file.

Chagrin Valley Regional Dispatch Center records show a dispatcher used a law enforcement database to check 36 guns on behalf of the Highland Hills Police Department on Sept. 14, 2017, a dispatch center manager confirmed to cleveland.com.

Records from the law enforcement database are not public record, but Stitt said those checks proved that none of the guns were stolen or involved in any crimes.

Preston said he does not have any reason to suspect the guns were used in any crimes before the police department took them in, but he asked the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to investigate them to limit the village’s liability.

“All of it is just a mess,” Preston said.

Furthermore, village officials are still trying to determine how to dispose of the two remaining large guns sitting in the police department’s safe. Dalton said he’s asked the ATF for guidance.

An ATF spokeswoman said the agency has discussed the guns with Highland Hills officials, but she declined to provide any more information.

The store credit

Atwell’s provided records that showed Stitt and other police officers used the credit to buy uniforms and other equipment at least 14 times through May 30, 2019, according to the records.

Booker and Preston questioned those purchases. They questioned why officers were not using their annual uniform allowances, which can be worth up to $500. In 2017, for instance, 21 full- and part-time village officers received a combined $6,110 for uniform allowances, according to village records.

But Stitt said those uniform allowances did not cover all of his officers’ needs. He said they used the store credit to buy equipment such as training uniforms, which officers would wear when they attended meetings or periodic training, such as firearms certification courses.

Preston reached out to Atwell’s after learning of the account several months ago. The village arranged for Atwell’s to write a check for the $15,285 remaining in the account, which was deposited into the village’s general fund Sept. 30, according to village records.

Village officials said they are still trying to determine what happened to the uniforms and equipment the police department bought from Atwell’s. The village’s current police officers have denied buying any uniforms there, Booker and Preston said.

The police department does not typically buy its uniforms from Atwell’s, which is located more than 25 miles away from the village offices, Preston said.

An Atwell’s manager declined to comment on the matter when reached by cleveland.com.

Village officials said they have asked the state auditor’s office to look into the transactions, but Law Director Thomas O’Donnell said he was unable to provide records confirming the auditor’s investigation. A spokesman for the auditor’s office said the office does not confirm or deny the existence of any ongoing investigations, or comment on their status.

The politics

Booker asked Stitt to resign when the former police chief announced his plan to run for mayor earlier this year. While the village does not have a policy that required Stitt to quit, both Booker and O’Donnell said it was a conflict of interest because the mayor serves as the village’s safety director and directly oversees the police chief.

“To us, that’s an obvious conflict and poses a real problem for the department to be properly run and efficient,” O’Donnell said in an email.

Village council members were split on whether Stitt’s candidacy constituted a conflict, according to the minutes of a July 1 meeting. Council member Michael L. Goodwin said he did not see Stitt’s candidacy as an issue, while council member Derrick Williams said he did not believe Stitt would do something unethical while running for mayor, according to the meeting minutes.

Stitt believes the village’s actions – including the investigation into the guns -- are politically motivated. He also accused Booker of holding a personal grudge against him.

“It’s very interesting to me that this never became an issue until I announced I was running for mayor,” Stitt said.

Stitt used to drive a village-issued 2012 Ford Taurus, but he said Booker requested the car when he became interim mayor. Booker confirmed he sometimes uses the car to travel to meetings, but said it is primarily used by the village’s senior services department to transport residents to medical appointments.

Stitt also said Booker refused to honor an agreement he made with Nash to roll over unused vacation time at the end of the year, even though village policy says employees lose their unused vacation time. Stitt provided a copy of an Aug. 20, 2018 letter he sent to Nash requesting his vacation time be rolled over, which Nash signed Aug. 21.

Booker said Nash erred by approving the request, because village council needs to approve any rollover of more than 40 vacation hours. Booker said offered to pay Stitt for 40 hours; Stitt did not dispute the mayor’s claim.

Mills defended Stitt, saying that the former police chief did not have any issues in his 27 years with the village.

“In 27 years here, he had an excellent record,” Mills said.

The Board of Elections

Stitt withdrew from the mayoral race Oct. 3, in the wake of a challenge to his voter registration, according to a letter he sent the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections.

Four village residents also challenged his voter registration by accusing him of voter fraud, saying he cast a Highland Hills ballot in 2018 despite the fact he lived in Maple Heights. Stitt admitted to living in Maple Heights during a Sept. 26 board of elections meeting, but said he maintained a second apartment in Highland Heights from 2007 to 2019, according to a transcript of the meeting.

The board of elections voted Oct. 23 to refer the matter to the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office for review, board spokesman Mike West confirmed. It remains under investigation.

Stitt told the board of elections that Nash gave him the apartment to supplement his village salary, according to the transcript. Stitt told cleveland.com he used the apartment to conduct surveillance for drug activity, and sometimes stayed there during inclement weather.

Stitt said he contacted the board of elections before he cast a ballot in Highland Hills, and called the incident a misunderstanding.

“I made a mistake,” Stitt said. “I misunderstood what the elections representative told me.”

The former police chief said he’s disheartened by the allegations current village officials have made against him. He regrets violating the village’s policy on accepting gifts over $5,000 but does not feel he did anything else improper.

“This hurts me, to see all these things being said about me and my character,” Stitt said. “Because I know it’s not true.”