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Ex-officer indicted for theft in office

LISBON — A former St. Clair Township police sergeant is facing seven felony charges including theft in office.

Joseph G. Brophey, 57, St. Clair Avenue, East Liverpool, resigned his position on the department on Feb. 23, 2016, two days after one of the charges he is facing, a burglary charge, accuses him of trespassing into the locked office of St. Clair Township Police Chief Donald Hyatt.

The other charges against Brophey are theft, theft in office and four counts of tampering with records. The theft charge is a fourth-degree felony, while all the other charges are third-degree felonies.

Brophey is alleged to have stolen $17,298, starting on Jan. 26, 2010 and continuing to Jan. 5, 2016. Additionally, the charges claim that on four dates starting with Dec. 15, 2015 and occurring again on Jan. 5, 2016, Jan. 28, 2016 and Jan. 29, 2016, Brophey falsified or altered bi-weekly timesheets claiming overtime for appearances in Columbiana County Municipal Court.

The indictment was brought by Special Prosecuting Attorney Stephanie R. Anderson and was reportedly was in conjunction with the results of an investigation by the Ohio Auditor’s Office.

At the time when Brophey resigned, Hyatt told the Journal Brophey had met with him and “we had a nice chat.” At that point, Hyatt indicated Brophey had given him a handwritten, formal letter of resignation stating he would be seeking other employment.

“We shook hands and out the door he went. I wished him luck and he left,” Hyatt had said.

On Friday, Hyatt, who has also retired since Brophey’s resignation, declined to comment further on the case.

Brophey is scheduled for arraignment in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court before Judge C. Ashley Pike on Thursday. The charges were one of the secret indictments issued by the grand jury, which met last week.

djohnson@mojonews.com

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