EVENDALE — The mayor of this quiet suburb, where residents are sharply divided over the hiring of Officer Stephen Roach, said Wednesday he likely will announce at tonight's council meeting whether he will put the officer back on patrol.

        The move comes after Officer Roach's attorney recently filed a grievance with the village because Police Chief Gary Foust took the officer off patrol and put him on desk duty March 27.

Roach

        Mayor Douglas Lohmeier on Wednesday declined to say what his decision will be. But there are strong indications he soon will put Officer Roach back in a squad car.

        Officer Roach will be told of the decision before the meeting, he said.

        “I realize it's been a controversial turn of events and what it has done to our village,” Mr. Lohmeier said. “We have learned from this and we will come out better in the end.”

        At an April 24 grievance hearing with the mayor, police chief, village solicitor and Officer Roach, Bill Gustavson, the officer's attorney, addressed concerns that village leaders have about how Officer Roach's character and integrity could be affected by a Cincinnati police internal affairs report that criticized him, Mr. Gustavson and Mr. Lohmeier said this week.

        The Cincinnati report, released March 19, said Officer Roach violated police procedures, then gave investigators conflicting statements about the April 7, 2001, fatal shooting of a fleeing, unarmed black man that sparked the city's riots.

        After the report came out, Chief Foust pulled him from the streets and put him on desk duty. If he couldn't clear his name by January 2003, he would be fired, the chief said.

        But Mr. Gustavson pointed out to Evendale officials they cannot, according to village ordinance, pull the officer from patrols because his job performance has been good.

        Mr. Gustavson also stressed expert testimony given at Officer Roach's trial last fall, which Judge Ralph E. Winkler said sealed the officer's acquittal.

        The experts dispelled the prosecutor's contention that Officer Roach didn't follow his police training, then lied about it when he fired on Timothy Thomas.

        What's more, he said, the Cincinnati report cannot be admitted in court because it does not meet evidentiary rules.

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