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Volume 55, No. 7
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CHESTERLAND NEWS Wednesday, August 16, 2023
Your Community Newspaper Since 1967
Garage Fire Causes $600,000 in Damages
Former West Geauga SRO Accused of Sexual Battery
Case Transferred to Lake County Due to Potential Conflict of Interest
Staff Report
By Amy Patterson amy@karlovecmedia.com
A garage fire in a Ferry Road home in Chester Township caused an estimated $600,000 in damages to the structure and its contents Aug. 2, according to a Chester Township Fire Rescue Facebook post. Firefighters staffing a pumper and tanker responded to the home at 4:34 p.m. Upon arrival at 4:43 p.m., they were met with a significant amount of fire in the garage encroaching on the home. Crews deployed two hand lines to begin extinguishing the fire, the Facebook post stated. Automatic aid from Munson and Russell township fire departments also was dispatched. Mutual aid was also received from Mayfield Village, Kirtland, Chardon and Gates Mills with pumpers; Bainbridge and Auburn township fire departments with tankers, and Willoughby Hills Fire Department with a paramedic squad. The homeowner and pets were all accounted for and uninjured, the post stated, and there were no injuries to firefighters. The Geauga County Fire Investigation Unit is conducting the investigation at this time.
Chester Township police officer Nicholas Iacampo, 29, of Painesville, was arraigned Aug. 7 in Chardon Municipal Court on a third-degree felony charge of sexual battery against a 16-year-old. Iacampo was arrested Aug. 6 and taken to a Lake County jail overnight. A press release from Chester Police Chief Craig Young said during the evening of Aug. 6, the Geauga Iacampo County Sheriff’s Office received a report involving serious allegations against a Chester Township police officer. “These allegations involved a teenage complainant while the officer was on duty,” Young said. The sheriff’s office contacted Young’s department, triggering an immediate investigation. In collaboration with Geauga County Prosecutor Jim Flaiz, Young said the Chester Township Police Department requested assistance from the Lake County Sheriff’s Office to conduct a third-party investigation. That investigation, conducted by a Lake County sheriff’s detective,
West G Football Preview page 10
Obituaries page 2
Town Crier page 4
AMY PATTERSON/KMG
Chester Township police officer Nicholas Iacampo, right, is arraigned Aug. 7 in Chardon Municipal Court on a third-degree felony charge of sexual battery against a 16-year-old.
found Iacampo engaged in sexual conduct with a minor who at the time of the incident was 16 years of age. “Futhermore, the accused admitted to the offense while speaking with detectives,” the detective stated in a complaint filed with the court. The conduct took place while Iacampo was on duty as a police officer and is alleged to have occurred Aug. 6 in the parking lot of the Church of the Blessed Hope on Wilson Mills Road in Chester Township. Iacampo, who is the son of Char-
don Municipal Court Judge Terri Stupica, helped thwart a potential shooting April 3 at West Geauga High School, where he served as a School Resource Officer from January through June. He is being represented by attorney Ian Friedman and co-counsel Madlyn Grant, both of Friedman, Menashe, Nemecek & Long LLC. “The facts of this case are just beginning to come in. We will review all claims and respond accordingly at the appropriate time,” they said in a See Iacampo • Page 5
School Board, Bus Drivers Reach Agreement By Brian Doering brian@karlovecmedia.com West Geauga Schools agreed to pay bus drivers $4,055 in a settlement agreement Aug. 7 with the Ohio Association of Public School Employees Local 255 union. Superintendent Richard Markwardt said there was no negotiating involved, the West Geauga Schools Board of Education simply made the situation right. “The settlement reached with OAPSE is a fair resolution to the claim by a very small number of bus
drivers that they might have lost wages due to work that was given to another driver. In examining the claim, I agreed with the drivers and advised the board of education accordingly,” Markwardt said. “The board agreed to pay the drivers making the claim for the dollars they may have lost from the work that was assigned to another driver.” In the winter of 2023, the district was in desperate need of an on-bus instructor to train new drivers during weekdays due to a bus driver shortage. As a result, the district reas-
signed a food services worker on Feb. 6 who had OBI certification to perform the work because other potential candidates were either on leave or expressed disinterest in the OBI work. On March 1, the union filed a class action grievance challenging the propriety of the district’s decision to assign the hours to a food services worker. The parties are currently tied to a collective bargaining agreement for the period of July 1, 2021, through June 30, 2024. The union objected to the reassignment of duties and alleged the
district created a new position without following proper job posting procedures in the negotiated agreement. “After discussions between representatives of the parties, the parties desired is to resolve the grievance,” the resolution read. “To avoid the time and expense of continuing to litigate the grievance through arbitration and beyond, the parties now wish to memorialize their agreement relative to a resolution applicable to the disputed issues involved in the grievance.” According to the settlement, See Bus • Page 6
Police Blotter & Real Estate Transfers page 6
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