In the wake of Gerald Police Chief Clyde Zelch’s resignation last

week, opinions are strong and speculations are flying in Gerald, as

shown by comments on local news web-sites. Indeed, the passion has

spread to a large area surrounding the town, with comments on those

web-sites made by many out-of-town residents, though some city

residents claim it is only Gerald’s battle.

Kathy Brautigam of Rosebud, whose letter to the editor appears in this edition, sums it up well.

“Crime doesn’t stop at the city limits. Cleaning up any town benefits all residents in the area, not just that town,” she says. 

Zelch’s resignation comes seven months after an investigation was begun by the Missouri Highway Patrol at the direction of Franklin County Prosecutor Bob Parks into Zelch’s request of a search warrant  last January.

At  the completion of  the investigation, the case was turned over to Special Prosecutor Jack Banas who is the prosecuting attorney of St. Charles County. Banas has yet to file charges against Zelch,but sources close to the case have indicated for months that charges would be filed ‘soon.’

This is the second investigation into Zelch. The first was initiated last fall after the resignation of Patrolman Andrew Rosenkoetter, one of only two officers remaining on Gerald’s force after the Bill A. Jakob scandal decimated its ranks.

According to a taped record of that interview, Jason Grellner, head of the Franklin County’s drug task force and another task force member accompanied two FBI agents to the GPD station last fall suggesting that Zelch had pressured Rosenkoetter to change his potential testimony against former GPD Chief Ryan McCrary. Charges against McCrary never materialized.

Grellner responded that he was part of that investigation at the request of the U.S. Attorney General’s office looking into possible witness tampering charges.

Zelch provided documentation of  both other officers’ and citizens’ complaints about Rosenkoetter’s job performance as reasons for the counseling session that led to Rosenkoetter’s dismissal.

“There was no reason to send four people to harass and intimidate me for something that could have been taken care of in one 10-minute phone call,” Zelch reasons.

Rosenkoetter now has employment with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department as a deputy in the detention facility.

Grellner also accused Zelch of allowing McCrary to use the department computers after he was terminated.

McCrary was in the office at one point when Grellner dropped in. The officer on duty described it this way:

“I was sitting at the desk filling out reports on the computer. McCrary came into the office, as a private citizen, to ask for our  help with a garage that was falling down near his property. He was afraid someone would be injured. We heard someone come through the door that leads to City Hall, whistling. Grellner stuck in his head, asked for the chief, was told he wasn’t on duty and then said, ‘Have him call me.’

That’s all there was to it. McCrary was sitting against the wall with an empty chair between him and the desk and I was sitting at the computer working. McCrary finished talking about the garage and then left.”

Zelch says that after that incident he called to seek help from Representative Charlie Schlottach who referred him to the Missouri Attorney General’s office. They in turn referred him to the U.S. Attorney General’s office, but he has received no response from them after more than nine months.

When contacted Tuesday afternoon by The Republican, and asked why at least three cases from Gerald were languishing in his office, Parks pled ignorance. “A lot of cases come through this office. You can’t expect me to pull the details of a case off the top of my head,” Parks replied.

Parks was not asked to do that, but was given the names and dates of specific cases and asked to check on the status of those cases. 

When asked for a good time to check back for the statuses, Parks replied, “Well, not next week. We are all going to be at a state-wide prosecutor’s convention. You could call the week after that.”

Zelch recalls going to Parks last November for a search warrant for a home in Northview Trailer Park. He reports being told that the Drug Task Force would have to be involved in the search in order for the warrant to be issued.

Zelch recalls he and Grellner argued that night during the search about the methods used to gain entrance to the house and the treatment of those inside.

A Gerald officer who assisted at the scene recalls hearing the two men arguing in a back room.

“They handcuffed one guy and took him outside barefoot, even though he asked for his shoes. It was a really cold night, so I finally went in to find some shoes for him. That’s when I heard Zelch and Grellner arguing in the back of the house.”

Zelch says the argument was over the method used to gain entrance to the home.

“Why did we have to bust in a door that wasn’t even locked?” he wonders. “There were little children inside who we scared to death.”

The Gerald officer who retrieved the shoes wonders the same.

“It was brutal,” he reports. “We are cops, not Nazis. I want no part of those tactics.”

Grellner has a different take on the evening. “There was no argument whatsoever between Chief Zelch and I,” Grellner maintains. “I was there by the Chief’s invitation. We didn’t bust in the door, in fact it took so long to make entry that one of the home’s occupants had time to run to a back room and hide in a crib and pull clothes over himself,” Grellner explains.

To a man, the department backs their chief.

“We’ve got a good police department here. We are making busts. With a little cooperation from the prosecutor, things would be even better,” one remarked.

Another said, “It’s a no-win situation. If Clyde stays, I’m afraid we will continue to get no cooperation from the prosecutor. If he leaves, who knows what the relationship with a new chief will be. The citizens of Gerald are the ones getting hurt.”

The patrolmen agree with Zelch’s decision to run as many cases as possible through the municipal court.

“It’s better to give them a small penalty here than none somewhere else,” one patrolman explains.

“The cases we are sending to the prosecutor have nothing to do with Clyde. They are from investigations we have worked hard on,” he continues.

Two cases in particular trouble the Gerald officers.

One occurred at the Gerald City Park last December and was written about in last week’s issue of The Republican.

After repeated questioning,  Parks finally told The Republican that case was under review. When asked if the case wasn’t moving forward due to the investigation into Zelch, Parks replied, “That’s one of the reasons.”

He was quoted in last weekend’s issue of the Washington Missourian as saying the case was now ready to be presented to a grand jury.

When Parks was questioned as to why the discrepancy in the two interviews he replied, “Thanks to you, we discovered the case had fallen through the cracks. When you asked about it I pulled it up and started looking into it.”

The Republican pressed Parks on why he hadn’t just said in last week’s interview that the case fell through the cracks, but, instead said it was not being prosecuted due to the investigation into Zelch.

“I don’t understand what you mean,” Parks replied.

When asked for a response to Parks’ statement Zelch groaned. “ I called and asked about that case so many times, so often,” Zelch recalls.

A Gerald officer also wonders about the delay in the case.

“We have a lab report back saying that the 2.07 grams of white powder we found in four separate bags was methamphetamine. We have a signed consent-to-search form. We have a signed statement saying ‘yes, it’s meth and it’s mine.’ It should be a slam-dunk case,” the officer laments.

A second case that has irritated the officers involves a man who allegedly assaulted a police officer and was subdued with a Taser. The man has a long criminal history and when other officers arrived on the scene to assist, the man spit blood in their faces.”

The blood was from the altercation which brought the police to the scene.

An officer says, “This was all documented and done by the book. He assaulted a police officer. He was spitting blood on us. We are police officers. This was not just one officer’s word. This case should be prosecuted.”

The second officer echoed the first’s sentiments, “It’s a no-win situation, everyone loses.”

A second former chief also admits frustration with Parks’ office. “We sent them lots of stuff and got nothing back. It was all sent to the ‘review table,’ he recalls.