A former Rossford police officer was indicted Wednesday by a Wood County grand jury on accusations that he misused a law enforcement database and stalked two women during separate incidents.
Glenn B. Goss, Jr., 31, of Rossford, is charged with two counts of unauthorized use of the Law Enforcement Automated Database, also known as LEADs, both fifth-degree felonies; one count of tampering with evidence, a third-degree felony; and two misdemeanor charges of menacing by stalking.
The LEADs program is the criminal justice information network for Ohio law enforcement. The Ohio State Highway Patrol is responsible for implementing rules for the operation and participation in the program.
A special prosecutor with the Ohio Attorney General’s Office was assigned to oversee the case.
“We’ll let the indictment speak for itself and decline further comment,” said attorney general spokesman Steve Irwin.
On Aug. 10, 2019, and June, 15, 2020, the former officer allegedly misused the LEADs system to look up personal identifying information about two women. He then allegedly contacted them by social media. The two women involved in the cases — Emily Hackler and Taylor Yarder — previously spoke to The Blade about the incidents.
Officer Goss was placed on administrative leave on June 15 after Ms. Hackler posted screenshots on Facebook of the conversation with the officer. The post has been shared more than 42,000 times and it has more than 4,500 comments.
He is accused of taking note of her license plate number while he was driving his personal vehicle. He later ran her through the database system once he got to work by sending a selfie of himself in uniform, the message shows.
“’So some creep decided to follow me on my way home from Planet Fitness. Turns out he works for the Rossford Police Department and used my plate number to figure out who I was, to message me personally and tell me how hot I was. Can you say HARASSMENT,’” she posted.
Ms. Hackler previously told The Blade that she noticed the officer’s black truck following her turns and speeding up to her vehicle. She said the situation made her feel uneasy.
Through a database audit, it was confirmed that Officer Goss searched Ms. Hackler's license plate at 1:35 p.m. June 15. His shift started at 1 p.m., according to the investigation.
Officer Goss claims he did this with a law enforcement purpose over her reckless driving and speed.
Ms. Yarder also revealed she was involved in an incident with the same officer a year prior when he stopped her for a traffic violation on Aug. 10, 2019. He later messaged her saying “can’t believe you got a break...” and that she was “almost in trouble.”
She stopped responding to him.
He later apologized, noting Ms. Yarder was friends with his brother and he “wanted to tease” her after the stop but he took note that by “telling by your silence it was a bad time to joke,” he wrote in the message.
“This needs to be handled and he needs to be gone!!! Harassment in any way is not acceptable!!!” Ms. Yarder also posted on social media on June 15.
“I feel bad for everyone involved and I just hopes everything works out for everyone involved going forward,” Mayor Neil MacKinnon III told The Blade on Thursday.
Wood County Prosecutor Paul Dobson couldn’t comment on the case because the attorney general’s office is handling it.
The former officer is expected to be arraigned in Wood County Common Pleas Court on Sept. 29.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on June 15, Rossford Police Chief Todd Kitzler received a text message from Officer Goss, according to a summary of a personnel complaint. In the message to his chief, Officer Goss included a screenshot Ms. Hackler's Facebook post and he stated, "Bad Move. I own it."
The chief asked to meet with the on-duty officer.
"Yes sir I'll be enroute. I'll take the unpaid day off. I own it for seeing the reckless/speed [violation] and looking her up. Bad move for contact her to flirt and be funny," Officer Goss responded.
Officer Goss told the chief that he observed the female driving recklessly while he was driving north on Crossroads Parkway earlier that day, according to the chief's report. He took note of her license plate and looked it up when he arrived for duty that afternoon.
Chief Kitzler advised the officer to return to the station to complete any unfinished paperwork. The chief started monitoring the social media post and received multiple phone calls from people concerned about the posting, according to his report.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol previously said it was conducting an investigation into criminal charges, though a copy of the report was not made available on Thursday.
The officer was previously found to violate multiple internal policies and he would have been recommended for termination, if he didn’t resign prior to city administrators completing their investigation.
Officer Goss is the son of the former Rossford Police Chief, Glenn Goss, Sr.
In July, 2018, the chief resigned from his position after almost seven years on the job. At that time, he said his decision was "directly related to affording his son, Glenn Goss, Jr., career opportunities that would potentially be limited as long as the senior Goss remained chief."
According to the department's officer list, the elder Goss continues to serve as an officer.
First Published September 17, 2020, 7:12 p.m.
