Former detective, wife, sue sheriff’s office over guns

By Brad Bauer, bbauer@mariettatimes.com
A former Washington County sheriff’s detective will not face felony charges out of a March incident in which he was accused of assaulting a man.

The former officer, Mark Tilton, 39, of Lowell, filed suit against the sheriff’s office Thursday, claiming they refuse to return his property.

Despite calls for a felony prosecution from Sheriff Larry Mincks, the special prosecutor assigned to the case determined only misdemeanor charges are appropriate.

“There will be charges filed, but not (felony) charges,” said special prosecutor Cliff Sickler of Noble County. “I consulted with a number of folks to get a handle on this situation. This is what I determined was appropriate.”

Sickler said he expects to charge Tilton with misdemeanor counts of aggravated menacing and assault for striking Andrew S. Mahoney, 39, of Lowell, after an argument March 21.

Mincks has said the argument was likely related to an internal affairs investigation that was the result of domestic violence charges filed against Tilton in February. He said Mahoney was asked to provide information for that investigation.

Mahoney also faces the possibility of charges out of the incident. Officers said he had been drinking and was in possession of a firearm at the time of the incident.

Tilton resigned from the sheriff’s office April 1 in exchange for the dismissal of the domestic violence charges against him.

Tilton maintained there was no domestic violence and that his wife, Teresa, who also worked for the sheriff’s office, had fabricated the story to put his career in jeopardy.

The couple filed for divorce, but have since reconciled, said Bill Burton, the couples’ attorney.

On Thursday, the Tiltons filed suit against Mincks and the sheriff’s office because, they claim, the sheriff refuses to return two of their guns.

The guns were taken by the sheriff’s office in response to a civil protection order that came out of the domestic violence charges, Mincks said.

“I would assume we will be returning those items; it is just a matter of the appropriate paperwork processing,” Mincks said.

Burton said the civil protection order was no longer in effect once the domestic violence charges were dismissed. That was more than a month ago.

“Teresa, the alleged domestic violence victim, went in (Wednesday) and requested the guns back and was denied them,” Burton said. “She couldn’t even get her own gun. That is stunning to me.”

Teresa Tilton, 37, worked as a corrections officer at the Washington County Jail until she was recently fired.

Burton said he is preparing another suit based on her termination. He said the firing was against all union rules.

Last month, Mincks said Teresa Tilton was also the target of an internal investigation.

“Other than to say she was terminated for a violation of our rules and regulations and code of conduct, I can’t really elaborate,” the sheriff said.

As for possible misdemeanor charges being filed against Mark Tilton, Mincks said he would trust the prosecutor’s judgment. Earlier, he withdrew misdemeanor charges in favor of pursuing possible felony counts.

“That is a decision he made based on our investigation,” Mincks said. “He’s the man that has to prosecute the case.”

Mark Tilton was set to deploy this week to Iraq with a U.S. Army Reserves unit he commands. Burton said his client was held back because of the pending charges.

“The individual penalty he is paying is so great it is incomprehensible,” Burton said.