EVENDALE — Officer Stephen Roach is back on the streets here, but the battle over his hiring is far from over. The strife has torn apart this northern Hamilton County village. Opponents of Officer Roach say it has hurt the village irreparably, while his supporters say they should get over it and move on.

        That much was clear following Thursday night's brief but fiery council meeting.

        Tensions flared among audience members, many of them Concerned Citizens of Evendale who oppose Officer Roach, and Mayor Douglas Lohmeier after he ordered the officer back on patrol.

        After two speakers ran over their time limit during public comment, Mr. Lohmeier had one of them arrested, cut the the second speaker off and then abruptly adjourned the meeting.

        “It's unfortunate that a certain number of the Concerned Citizens group continue to drive the wedge to divide Evendale,” he said Friday. “They aren't going to come in here and disrupt council meetings anymore.”

        Mr. Lohmeier said the citizens have “abused” the public input portion of the meetings so much recently, he is halting public input at future meetings until council could study the problem and resolve it.

        On Monday, Mr. Lohmeier and a council member also are expected to begin meeting with leaders of Concerned Citizens to try to mediate the dispute. He remains confident the matter can be resolved, but the opponents vow they won't rest until Officer Roach is gone.

        “Evendale has become an embarrassment to Greater Cincinnati,” resident Steve Jemison said. “This is unbelievable. You are not supposed to treat your citizens this way.”

        Lynn Watts, an Officer Roach opponent and a Concerned Citizens of Evendale member, was taken out of council chambers by two police officers and charged with disrupting a public meeting. On Friday, Mrs. Watts' attorney, Marc Mezibov — who also is representing the group on their Ohio Supreme Court lawsuit to force a referendum on Officer Roach's hiring — said her free speech rights had been violated.

        Officer Roach was hired in Evendale in January. But he was put on desk duty in March until he cleared his name following the release of a critical Cincinnati police internal affairs report on his fatal shooting of a fleeing, unarmed black man last year that sparked the city's riots.

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