Investigation Complete, Special Prosecutor In

Traverse City Police Department Captain Mike Ayling will remain in his position while a special prosecutor determines whether to pursue charges against the officer.

The Grand Traverse County Sheriff’s Office completed a nearly month-long investigation Wednesday into whether Ayling and other TCPD employees committed any wrongdoing while handling the case of former city manager Jered Ottenwess. Ottenwess – who directly supervised the TCPD in his capacity as city manager – was not arrested following a February 16 drunken disturbance at his home, and the TCPD took three days to turn over the case to the Sheriff’s Office. Ayling characterized Ottenwess’ incident as a medical rather than criminal issue.

Ottenwess was later charged with domestic violence and attempting to assault a police officer, was sentenced to two years’ probation, and resigned. Grand Traverse County Prosecuting Attorney Bob Cooney ordered a probe on March 6 into how the TCPD handled the case.

Assigned investigators Lieutenant Brian Giddis and Lieutenant Chris Barsheff turned their findings over to Cooney Wednesday, recommending a possible charge of willful neglect of duty against Ayling, a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and/or a $1,000 fine. Cooney tells The Ticker because of his role as a “complaining witness” in the investigation, he requested that Antrim County Prosecuting Attorney Jim Rossiter be appointed to oversee the case. The appointment was approved Thursday by the state attorney general’s office.

Cooney said “it should be fairly quick” for Rossiter to determine whether to pursue action against Ayling, which could include additional or different charges than those recommended or a decision to drop the case. “Hopefully within a few days or by sometime next week,” Cooney says.

Rossiter confirms to The Ticker that that estimate “doesn’t seem unreasonable,” but says he needs to review the report as well as recorded interviews and state statutes for the recommended charges before proceeding. “Obviously because of Captain Ayling’s position, there’s a lot of public interest in this,” Rossiter says. “But I review these types of cases the same way I review any other case. I keep an open mind…and do an independent review to see if there’s a chargeable (offense).”

While Ayling and TCPD Chief Mike Warren declined to comment, the department issued a press release noting that Ayling “remains in his assigned position as division commander of patrol.”

Traverse City Mayor Michael Estes says it would be up to Acting City Manager Penny Hill to pursue serious disciplinary action against Ayling, such as suspension, but calls that a “very difficult” route to take. “There are very specific reasons you need in order to do that,” Estes says. “It’s important to keep in mind (Ayling) isn’t being charged with anything at this point, and that it’s all a preliminary investigation.”

Estes says he’s been informed that Warren “has taken some actions” as a result of the case, including temporarily reassigning some of Ayling’s duties – such as media relations – to other officers. “But until there are charges brought, there’s no further action for us in the city to take,” says Estes. “It’s very unfortunate there’s even the potential of wrongdoing.”

While Cooney and Sheriff Tom Bensley declined to release or discuss the details of Giddis and Barsheff’s report, citing the ongoing nature of the case, Bensley says “there’s no question" in his mind that his officers conducted a thorough and impartial investigation of the TCPD.

“We would’ve hoped it would have been done sooner,” says Bensley. “But we made sure to dot our i’s and cross our t’s.”

Ayling has been with the TCPD for more than two decades. He was promoted from administrative sergeant to captain at the end of 2012.