A Mahoning County sheriff's deputy already on unpaid administrative leave has agreed to apply for disability retirement or to resign following an internal investigation regarding "certain acts committed ... during his employment."
Deputy Jeffrey Arnaut, 35, an 11-year member of the sheriff's office, signed the agreement Monday.
Sheriff Randall Wellington said Tuesday he would not comment on the details of the investigation until an internal affairs report is released later this week. But we're told it involved several admissions made by Arnaut during a polygraph test he took after applying for a job with YSU police.
According to several documents obtained from the school after a public records request was submitted by our station, Arnaut had worked at YSU as an intermittent officer since 2008. He applied for a full time position last summer and was hired in November on a conditional basis, pending results of several screenings and a standard polygraph test, which was conducted Nov. 30, according to the documents.
In a report accompanying the polygraph, it was stated that Arnaut was deceptive "due to deliberate attempts to defeat the purpose" of the assessment. These deceptions were detected in questions regarding committing serious undetected crimes, involvement with illegal drugs and theft from his employer within the past eight years, according to the report.
Additionally, the documents state that Arnaut admitted to several activities including stealing a GPS device and money from the task force to pay for milk, lunch and Christmas gifts. Documents state that he was part of the task force in 2009.
Arnaut also admitted to drinking while in possession of a weapon and firing his weapon while drinking and driving "less than five times." Time frames for those activities were not made clear in the documents.
According to YSU spokesperson, Ron Cole, information revealed in the course of Arnaut's application and polygraph test was forwarded to the Mahoning Country Sheriff's Department. Arnaut submitted a notice of resignation to YSU Dec. 2.
When asked early last week if Arnaut was under investigation by internal affairs, Wellington said he was not. Wellington at that time also said Arnaut was on medical leave, but that he couldn't comment further due to medical issues.
However, after a public records request was submitted to his office, the Mahoning County Prosecutor's Office confirmed that Arnaut had been subject to an internal investigation. Tuesday, officials said legal counsel is still reviewing information in the internal affairs report to determine what portion of it is considered public record.
Wellington on Tuesday acknowledged the investigation had been conducted. He refused to comment on the investigation, including on when it was launched, until the report is released later this week.
The settlement agreement, however, was released Tuesday. The agreement states "the employer will hold this matter in abeyance" pending Arnaut applies for disability retirement. Arnaut will be on unpaid administrative leave during that process, but can use 558 hours of accrued time off while on leave.
The agreement also states that Arnaut must initiate paperwork for disability within a week, and if he doesn't pursue retirement, he must resign from the sheriff's office.
A message for comment was left Tuesday for Arnaut.