LORAIN — A Lorain police officer placed on medical leave in August in the wake of a reported suicide threat was reprimanded recently for misconduct while on duty.

Officer Corey Earl received a written reprimand Dec. 12 for using foul language and discussing his estranged wife on Nov. 26 when he pulled over Fred Pena, the ex-husband of Earl’s current girlfriend.

The reprimand also mentions a separate incident in which Earl went to Pena’s job while in uniform to inquire about Pena’s employment status.

Corey Earl

Earl, who was placed on leave from Aug. 20 to Oct. 1 when he was put on restricted duty, returned to road patrol Nov. 9 after receiving a fitness for duty evaluation by a doctor, according to his personnel file.

In September, the 17-year veteran of the police department spent a week in the county jail for allegedly violating a civil protection order his estranged wife filed after Earl reportedly entered her home, showed her his handgun and threatened to kill himself.

Lorain police Capt. Robert Davey said the written reprimand will be placed in Earl’s personnel file, and if he bothers Pena or the woman who was with him at the time, Deborah Ward, he’ll face more severe discipline.

“Am I worried that this is the sign of a huge meltdown? No, I’m not worried. I haven’t seen any flags yet that would give me a cause for concern,” Davey said.

Davey also said that Earl’s patrols have been restricted so he won’t be responsible for the areas where they live.

“We have supervisors being made aware of what’s going on,” Davey said.

An internal police investigation began Nov. 29 after Ward filed a complaint against Earl.

She told police that Earl had been driving by her house frequently and on the afternoon of Nov. 26, he pulled her over for running a red light while she was driving in the area of Lakeview Park with Pena as the passenger, according to the internal investigation report.

The day before, Earl issued Pena a citation for driving under suspension and said it was Pena, not Ward, who was driving the vehicle on Nov. 26, the report said.

Pena pulled the car into a parking lot and switched seats with Ward after Earl’s police cruiser passed them, Earl told an investigator.

Earl admitted to using profanity during the Nov. 26 stop, saying he warned Pena he would take him to jail if he saw him driving again, and also said he asked about a conversation Pena had with Earl’s estranged wife after one of their divorce hearings outside county Common Pleas Court.

Earl said he believed Pena was trying to interfere with the divorce, according to the investigation report.

A few days earlier — an exact date was not provided — Earl went to U.S. Steel while on duty to inquire whether Pena was employed, the report said.

Earl acknowledged that he did visit the plant — saying he wanted to find out whether Pena had been laid off, which Pena told his ex-wife to explain why he couldn’t pay alimony, according to the report.

Earl told investigators he had not been driving by Ward’s home, as she alleged, the report said.

Contact Adam Wright at 329-7151 or awright@chroniclet.com.

 

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