Fremont Ohio Mayor Sanchez Allegedly Uses Police Intimidation to Prevent Witness Testimony

The City of Fremont Police Department in Ohio has had major issues in the last years and continues recently in 2024 causing crime to accelerate up and for trust of the police to go downwards. The mayor is allegedly using the Police to intimate potential witnesses to recent false arrests, defamation of characters, and harassment incidents by the police.

The distrust started on November 30^th of 2022 when probationary Chief Derek Wensinger was placed on administration leave. According to City of Fremont documents, Derek provided unsatisfactory service while he was on probation as being Chief. The documents further state he was insubordinate and failed to have good behavior.

The documents advise that in April of 2022, Derek told a female officer that she would “have a hard time in law enforcement” because of her race and gender. Safety Service Director Ken Frost advised Derek to not make that statement again. Derek attempted to defend himself by saying “but it’s true.”

In November of 2022, Derek made the same statement to the same officer again. Derek allegedly first denied and lied about the second incident and then later acknowledged that he did say that again.

After an administrative meeting, Derek was only given a five-day suspension even though he was on probation. According to former Safety Service Director Sam Derr in documents obtained from previous officer disciplines while he was safety service director, lying is considered a fireable offense since after an Officer lies, his word can no longer be trusted and in court he would not be credible.

When talking to most people in Sandusky County Ohio, they do not trust the Fremont Police due to the Chief and the Mayor’s office being corrupt. No one would identify themselves as they fear the same harassment that other citizens are facing.

In 2024, Officer Jason Kidney was dispatched to the area of the Fremont Federal Credit Union for a report of people filming in public in the downtown area. Officer Body Camera footage shows that Kiddey did not question the callers and witnesses before he approached the people legally filming in public and was yelling for them to stop. Without Kiddey investigating and failing to realize that no crime was committed, Kiddey demanded the journalists’ identifications. When one of them refused, he placed him under a false arrest, and advised it was obstructing, when no crime was committed for there to be any obstruction. Another journalist was filming the incident when Kiddey ordered another Officer, Villareal, to place that man under arrest. Kiddey then began to pull and push the first man under arrest around injuring him with the handcuffs while he was assisting the other Officer with the second false arrest.

Before the second false arrest, Officer Villareal’s body camera footage shows him talking with Administrative Officer Ty Conger around the corner of the incident. When Officer Villareal advised Conger that Kiddey has placed one of the men under arrest. Conger responded with an explicit word within “Why the — did he arrest one.” Conger then is not observed until later after the second false arrest when he approached Kiddey. Kiddey told Conger that he arrested them for filming in public.  Conger’s response was that it is legal to film in public.

Officer Villareal returned to Kiddey where the second man was falsely arrested and then was placed in a police vehicle with the windows up and no air conditioning. After minutes the car became over 100 degrees. Finally, after a long period of time, another officer rolled a window down.

Officer Stacey Robinson’s bodycam shows her approach several Officers, including Kiddey and Conger. Officers can be heard discussing what they can do to correct their false arrest mistake. Robinson suggests trespassing; however, trespassing was not violated here. One of the Officers then tell Robinson to turn her body camera off. She then fiddles with it until she turns it unlawfully off so the coward Officers could hide what they were trying to do to lie about their mistake. After several Officers at the scene was unable to find out a way to make the false arrest a legal arrest, they released both journalists.

Stacey Robinson resigned from the Fremont Police Department within a month. Officer Kiddey resigned 6 days after the incident. Unfortunately, the Sandusky County Sheriff hired Kiddey even after his violation of the constitutional rights and for making a false arrests. Sheriff Chris Hilton did not return our call as to why he would hire Kiddey.

Then about a month after that incident in 2024, Officer Chevy Farmer went to a local businessman’s place of business and falsely arrested him. The Officer advised he was serving a warrant and did not ask the businessman’s last name. He then arrested the man and transported him to the Sandusky County Jail. Jail administration was able to find the mistake and the businessman was released. However, the damage was already done as the man was closing up his business for the night and serving the last customers when the Officer barged in and made the false arrest. The Officer also made defamation statements to the customers by saying the business owner had a warrant for drug charges when it was not even the right man.

After the first incident, residents who would be a witness against the character or Officer Kiddey were starting to be harassed by the Fremont Police. Fremont Police Detectives instead of investigating the recent violent and other major crimes, decided to use their time to harass residents who are potential witnesses against Kiddey. The residents advised Detectives were claiming that constructions and people laughing and talking loudly is disturbing the area. However, there is no such ordinance against doing construction and the First Amendment protects freedom of speech which should include laughing as we are not China, we are the United States of America. The Police Harassment continues to this day. However, the residents say it will not prevent them from testifying against Kiddey and the City of Fremont.

Other residents are reporting the same police harassment. Residents that are potential witnesses to any of the Officers in any of the incidents are being constantly harassed by the Fremont Police.

As of the report coming out today, one of the residents reported a detective and officer stopping in front of their house and doing foot patrol around their house in an attempt to intimiate them. There were no noises that would be considered illegal per the first amendment at the time recorded by the residents’ security cameras. Only typical noises from nearby neighbors and what you would expect to hear in the city were heard. The residents’ attorneies advised to keep filiming the harassment by the Fremont Police and the more incidents caught on camera, the better for the pending lawsuit. Appranantly the Fremont Police and Mayor are using a employee and his wife to make fake calls against the residents. The employee and wife will also be named in the lawsuit according to the residents’ attornies.  Perhaps the mayor has intimadated the employee and his wife to make false reports. If they are not being intimidated and are actually bothered by typical city and typical noise from what you would expect to hear from people, then they should find a place where there are no people and move there. We attempted to contact the employee and his wife for a comment without success.

One of the residents said “It is ridicolous that the Detetives would use taxpayers’ dollars to intimiate people instead of doing their job and solving the recent crimes such as the theft at Rural King, and the shootings at Delware Acres in Fremont last week. Crime is going up and the drug problems similar to the 1990’s is returning and it is because of the lack of detectives being too scared to be going after violent and other criminals and police doing their jobs. The trust in the Police and mayor is gone.  The lawsuit should get the bad detectives and officers to resign or be fired and the mayor to be ousted so that the city of Fremont can once again be a safe city and have trust returned to the police department. Their intimidation tactics are not going to stop us from testifying.”

Violent and other crimes are going up in the City of Fremont Ohio while the mayor does nothing to stop the police harassment and have Detectives and Officers instead go after violent and other criminals. The City of Fremont had a major drug problem in the 1990’s and with the stats, it is unfortunately returning to the area.

We interviewed another resident of Fremont who requested to be anonymous said “Detectives and Police Officers going around and on foot to listen to the typical sounds of the city would by humorous if crime wasn’t going up in Fremont Ohio so high, and the drug problems returning. I am very upset that our tax money is being wasted and the time of the Detectives and Police are being wasted for sounds. I am organizing people to start a protest and confront the mayor at one of the city council meetings.”

The trust of the Fremont Ohio citizens in the Police and Mayor is gone.

The Mayor of Fremont, Ohio, Danny Sanchez has yet to return calls we made to his office.

We will continue to investigate the incidents.

Many other government officials in Sandusky County Ohio have violated the trust of the public as well, including the Fremont Municipal Court Judge Ikes and a Sandusky County Official. We will investigate and provide a report on these incidents.

Body Cam Video courtesy of one of the Journalists at the scene of the false arrest by Officer Kiddey.