Former Ohio State Highway Patrol lieutenant William P. Elschlager was found guilty of three counts of theft – all third-degree felonies – Tuesday in Delaware County Common Pleas Court.
Elschlager was indicted in March 2016 after two guns were found in his Marietta home.
The firearms were found in connection to a separate investigation.
Elschlager, 48, was initially charged in Delaware County with the theft of both guns, but the charges connected to one of the firearms were dismissed.
“The theft charges Mr. Elschlager was found guilty of were affiliated with a gun that had been in evidence during the time he was a patrolman at the Delaware County Post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol,” Delaware County Prosecutor Carol O’Brien said. “The gun was cataloged by Mr. Elschlager as having been returned to the owner.”
Since working in Delaware, Elschlager moved to Marietta and served as Lieutenant for the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Marietta Post.
“No one is above the law,” First Assistant Prosecutor Kyle Rohrer said. “Mr. Elschlager was a trusted law enforcement officer in Delaware County, and he manipulated that trust to steal
a firearm from an evidence locker.”
A sentencing hearing has been set for 3:30 p.m. Jan. 19, 2018.
