By Tom Gilchrist
Staff Writer
VASSAR — Prosecutors say a part-time Vassar Police Department officer has been fired for returning to the scene of an alleged incident of domestic violence while off duty.
“Based upon his going back to that location after he was off duty on Sunday, the Vassar police chief took immediate action and did terminate that officer’s part-time employment,” said Tuscola County Prosecutor Mark E. Reene.
The officer investigated a report of an assault at a Huron Avenue apartment in Vassar on Sunday morning involving a 29-year-old female alleged victim, according to Reene. Police saw “observable injuries” on the woman, Reene said.
Later that day, Tuscola County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Steve Roland arrested Charles C. Collis II — the 30-year-old suspect in the domestic-violence case. Collis faces up to 93 days in jail and a $500 fine if convicted of domestic violence. He was released on his own recognizance and awaits an Oct. 13 pretrial hearing.
But the Vassar officer returned to the scene later on Sunday while off duty, Reene said. Vassar Police Chief Ben Guile fired the part-time officer Sunday night after learning of the officer’s unauthorized return to the scene of the alleged crime, according to Reene.
Guile declined comment about the fired officer, who is under investigation by Michigan State Police in connection with his return to the scene. A video on a TV-station website shows what appears to be a male, in blue jeans, climbing into a window of the Vassar apartment that was the scene of the alleged act of domestic violence. Reene said he couldn’t confirm that the officer is the person in the video.
“He was a part-time officer who had only been (working for the Vassar Police Department) for a short time,” Reene said.
The prosecutor said police are examining any connection between the police officer and the alleged victim of domestic violence.
“We have no information that they knew each other in advance; that’s all part of what’s being investigated now,” Reene said. “There was nothing to indicate there was any prior relationship at all.”
The Tuscola County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the domestic-violence case.
The Advertiser could not reach Collis’ lawyer, Flint attorney Jeffrey E. Clothier, for comment.