By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HAMILTON - A suspended city police officer accused of 17 departmental violations resigned Thursday to avoid possibly being fired. He had faced accusations of stalking, violence, suicidal behavior and misusing the state crime computer, all related to an alleged extramarital affair.

William R. Hensley, 33, who had been on the force for nearly nine years, resigned a day before a predisciplinary hearing on the alleged departmental violations.

Hensley, who had been a detective since 1999, had often received excellent performance reviews but served a 60-day suspension last year after an internal probe revealed other officers had witnessed him misusing force as early as 1996.

Hensley had been on paid leave since Jan. 16, after Monica Bellissimo, 26, of West Chester Township, told court officials that her "ex-boyfriend," Hensley, was stalking her. Police say he is married.

Police Chief Neil Ferdleman on Thursday said the department's administrative investigation into Hensley's conduct ended with an agreement that led to Hensley's one-sentence resignation letter.

However, the chief ordered Hamilton investigators to share information with West Chester police, because Bellissimo alleged Hensley was violent at her home there Jan. 10. Five days later, Hamilton investigators interviewed her and took photos of her bruises.

As of Thursday, West Chester police said Bellissimo had filed no report against Hensley. Two weeks ago, she obtained a Butler County court order barring Hensley from contact with her. A hearing on the allegations that led to that order had been set for Thursday but was postponed until Feb. 20.

A notice of departmental charges, given to Hensley this week, says Bellissimo alleged Hensley had previously broken her ribs and caused a scar above her eye.

Her father, Samuel Bellissimo of Fairfield Township, on Jan. 13 told police his daughter alleged Hensley recently "choked her, kicked her, then drew a gun, pointed it at her," stuck the gun in his own mouth and threatened to "blow (his) brains out," the notice says.

Further, the document alleges that Hensley ran inquiries on Bellissimo's current boyfriend through Law Enforcement Automated Data System (LEADS), a statewide crime for law-enforcement purposes, on Jan. 9.

Hensley is the second officer to leave the 117-member force recently under allegations of violent conduct. In August, Joseph P. Booher, a sergeant who served 17 years, was fired after being accused of hitting his wife. A misdemeanor domestic violence charge is pending in Hamilton Municipal Court.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com