Ric Lampela no longer rules over Put-In-Bay; he now faces a menacing charge in connection with alleged rape cover-ups within his department. Credit: DOUG BROWN / SCENE
Former Police Chief Ric Lampela, the self-proclaimed “God of Put-in-Bay,” has been cleared of charges relating to falsification and dereliction of duty in the Lake Erie island’s saga of drug-and-rape cover-ups within his department.

A menacing charge remains on the table, as Lampela was accused of using his power to threaten a victim of rape, saying that he could destroy her career if he wanted to. (This is when he rolled out the “God” claptrap, according to reports.) “Who do you think they will believe,” he reportedly told one of the victims when confronted about the rape, “you or the chief of police?”

Former Scene writer Doug Brown wrote a feature on the island’s alarmingly high number of reported druggings and rapes. 

This article appears in Oct 7-13, 2015.

Eric Sandy is an award-winning Cleveland-based journalist. For a while, he was the managing editor of Scene. He now contributes jam band features every now and then.

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