No charges filed against Darien board president
DARIEN — Walworth County District Attorney Phil Koss said he will not file criminal charges against Darien Village Board President Bob Metzner.
A complaint filed with the Walworth County Sheriff's Office and forwarded to Koss alleged Metzner had attempted to defraud the village's insurance company and the Federal Emergency Management Agency while attempting to collect reimbursement for flood damage, Koss said.
The insurance company and FEMA said they were not defrauded, Koss said, so Koss will not file charges.
Koss would not say who filed the complaint against Metzner, but Evelyn Etten, who intends to run for village president in April, said the complaint against Metzner was filed by village Police Chief Steve DeVoy.
Metzner and other village officials suspended DeVoy with pay Dec. 1, Etten said.
The Janesville Gazette was unable to reach DeVoy for comment.
Metzner declined to talk about the situation or say who is acting as the head of the police department. He referred questions to Village Administrator Marc Dennison.
Dennison, whose first day on the job was Dec. 1, declined to comment and referred the Gazette back to Metzner.
During a Dec. 1 public hearing, many residents saw plywood and crime scene tape nailed over DeVoy's office door, Etten said.
Etten has taken out papers to run for village president and is one of several village residents organizing a petition for a recall election to oust Metzner and Trustee Phil Putman from the board.
Tensions got so high at the Dec. 1 hearing that village resident Ruth Ann McCue called the Walworth County Sheriff's Office to intervene. McCue was not at the meeting but got a call saying things were out of hand, she said.
Another woman called 911 and said a riot was about to break out at the village hall before she hung up, according to police reports.
Deputy Craig Konopski was dispatched to the village hall at 7:30 p.m. and first spoke to former Trustee Shane Spoo and resident Debi Olmstead, according to reports. Spoo and Olmstead said Metzner was using profanity and refusing to let village residents speak during the meeting, according to police reports.
Village police Sgt. Michael Maltese, who was at the meeting, denied Spoo's and Olmstead's accusations, according to the reports.
The meeting "got a little heated," when Metzner suspended DeVoy with pay, Maltese told Konopski.
Konopski requested backup from other deputies and was advised to leave the scene because he works part-time for the village and was upset by the news about the chief, according to the report.
Sgt. William Melloch reported that Maltese said residents were unhappy about pending cuts to the village budget. Maltese denied that anyone was terminated but said layoffs could be pending, according to the report.
Deputies stayed at village hall until people left the meeting, according to reports. No citations were issued.
Parts of the police report about the public hearing relevant to the claim filed against Metzner were blacked out.
The Gazette has filed a request under the state Open Records Law for copies of the sheriff's office reports about its investigation of the accusations against Metzner.
