MIAMI TOWNSHIP — No jail time for the former Miami Township police officer who was off-duty and drunk when pointed a gun at a crowd at his neighbor’s 4th of July party after they would not stop shooting off fireworks.
Jason Etter used to work at the Miami Township Police Department.
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He was fired by the police department after the incident.
In court, Etter declined to comment after the judge told him he could address the court before sentencing.
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In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors dismissed half of the 16 aggravated menacing charges against him.
The one count of possession of a firearm while intoxicated remained, all the charges are misdemeanors.
The judge suspended a six-month jail sentence and put him on probation for two years.
Etter was also given court-ordered alcohol, drug, mental health, and anger management programs.
His lawyer said in court that Etter is already doing most of that and is “extremely remorseful” for what happened over the 4th of July holiday weekend.
News Center 7 previously reported that body camera video showed officers showing up to Etter’s block in Perry Township.
Investigators said he pointed a gun at a crowd that included children and threatened to kill people if they would not stop shooting off fireworks.
“Perhaps in the future, in the first six months of your probation, that some sort of soulful letter to the people that you scared be composed,” Judge Margaret Quinn told Etter in court.
The judge also said Etter has to forfeit the rifle police took from him this summer.
The court said as long as he’s on probation in this case he can’t have any guns.
News Center 7 asked Miami Township if Etter filed a grievance through his police union to get his job back after they fired him.
A spokesperson for the department said it’s pending and they can’t comment.
Etter told News Center 7 about his grievance and he said he did not know the current status.
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