01/10/2007

Deputy resigns as part of plea deal

He allegedly was involved in road rage incident

By VICTOR SKINNER

vskinner@record-eagle.com

VanMeter

TRAVERSE CITY — A Charlevoix County Sheriff's deputy involved in an alleged off-duty road rage incident has resigned his position and will pay $200 in fines and costs after he admitted responsibility to a civil infraction.

District Court Judge Michael Haley accepted Brian VanMeter's plea to careless driving Monday in an early morning hearing in Traverse City. Careless driving is not a criminal offense.

The plea agreement required VanMeter, 42, to resign as deputy for Charlevoix County and admit he drove carelessly. But a resignation agreement with the sheriff's department allows him to receive back pay from his suspension in October until his resignation Monday and a letter of reference from the sheriff's department, said Mary Beth Kur, his attorney. The reference letter "will not disparage Brian VanMeter,” according to the agreement.

See related stories:

• Cop's assault charge dropped - November 7, 2006
• Charlevoix Sheriff's deputy suspended - October 11, 2006

"I think that it was more important to the community that he no longer be a police officer than potentially obtaining a misdemeanor conviction and leaving the sheriff's department to go through the dismissal process,” said Charles H. Koop, Antrim County's prosecutor who was appointed special prosecutor in the case. "My agreement for him to resign had nothing to do with the agreement he made with the sheriff.”

VanMeter initially was charged with felonious assault and reckless driving in October after he witnessed a man leaving his wife's residence and allegedly "threatened and intimidated” the man with his Chevrolet Malibu on M-66 near U.S. 31 in Charlevoix County's Marion Township, state and county authorities said at the time. The two vehicles never made contact, and no injuries resulted.

The altercation was allegedly part of an ongoing feud between VanMeter and his wife, which involved several other incidents between the couple, Kur said.

"There was marital discord all around and when there is marital discord there are other people who fall within that behavior,” Koop said.

VanMeter remains upset that his road rage case garnered extensive media coverage while other alleged incidents on his wife's part were overlooked, Kur said.

"There has been of a lot of media coverage presumably because he was a police officer who was accused of committing crimes, but once it is all dismissed and washed away it is always going to be in people's heads,” Kur said. "He did a lot of good things in his career as a police officer.”

While Kur is unsure if VanMeter again will seek employment in law enforcement, she said he is focused on moving forward with his life.

"He owns his own business and my assumption is that he is going to concentrate his efforts there,” Kur said. "He is going to try and get through his divorce and move on with his life.”