Police Investigating Allegations Against Village Trustee

The allegations of an inappropriate relationship between a village trustee and a municipal employee are now under criminal investigation.

Mount Pleasant Police Chief Tim Zarzecki confirmed with Patch Thursday that his department has been asked to look into the allegations against Trustee Sonny Havn.

An anonymous letter was delivered to Village Hall on Oct. 5 accusing Havn of ethics violations and calling for his resignation. The letter was forwarded to the village's lawyers at Pruitt, Ekes and Geary, S.C. On Wednesday, Attorney Christopher Geary sent board members a response.

"Given the gravity of the allegations and the potentially significant ramifications therefrom, we believe it would be in the best interest of all involved if the Village Board would initiate an impartial investigation to determine the facts of the situation and, depending on what those facts are, whether any laws or ethical standards have been violated," he wrote.

Geary outlined two state statutes that could apply to the situation. One includes language about local officials' code of ethics and the second outlines criminal liability for misconduct in public office.

Village President James Majdoch Thursday said he started a complaint with MPPD because of those two statutes.

"It seemed pretty clear to me that we had to go this route after the village attorney pointed out the statutes," he told Patch when we reached him Thursday morning.

Zarzecki said the department was asked to look into a possible criminal investigation, but might ask another jurisdiction to take over.

"We are still determining whether or not to ask another agency to head the investigation to avoid any potential conflict of interest," he said.