Open Letter to the Prosecutor's Office
How one administration inherited the others staff and issues.
Aaron Christopher Knapp, LSW, CDCA(p), BSSW
4220 Talbot Ln
a4xbeaverman@yahoo.com
216-659-9899
05/21/2025
Tony Cillo
Lorain County Prosecutor
226 Middle Avenue
Elyria, OH 44035
RE: Pattern of Misrepresentation by Legacy Staff – Why the Term “Liars” Is Justified
Dear Mr. Cillo,
Thank you for asking why I have characterized members of your office—and other local officials—as “liars.” It’s not a term I use lightly. Nor do I apply it indiscriminately. In fact, I want to make clear that I do not believe you personally have lied to me. To date, your direct communication with me has not reflected the patterns of evasion and deflection I’ve experienced elsewhere.
But that pattern exists. It is deeply rooted in the conduct of those who remained in your office after Prosecutor J.D. Tomlinson left, and it has directly harmed my ability to access public records, assert my legal rights, and pursue justice in matters involving public misconduct.
1. I Was Repeatedly Lied To—Then Proven Right in Court
In 2023, I requested courthouse surveillance footage after an incident involving me in the Justice Center lobby. I was repeatedly told:
The footage did not exist or could not be retrieved.
That it was exempt under ORC 149.433 as a security record.
That it had been automatically overwritten after 45 days.
Only months later did I learn—through indirect admissions and internal communications—that Assistant Prosecutor Dan Petticord had pulled the footage from the server early in the process and stored it in his desk drawer, anticipating litigation.
And when I took the matter to the Court of Common Pleas—after a prior Court of Claims filing failed due to staff steering me to the wrong respondent—your office ultimately settled the matter for $2,500 and released the footage, acknowledging it was, in fact, a public record all along.
That is not a legal disagreement. That is a deliberate campaign of delay, omission, and misdirection—all of which your office rectified only after litigation and after your own swearing-in.
2. This Is Not About a One-Off. This Is a Pattern.
This wasn’t the only instance where I was forced to correct a lie. In 2022–2023, I submitted a series of records requests to Sheffield Lake Mayor Dennis Bring for public emails, complaint files, and correspondence tied to police discipline and inter-agency conduct. I was told:
“No such emails exist.” (They did.)
“No complaints have been filed.” (They had.)
“No communications with outside agencies.” (Multiple existed.)
Each denial was followed by a legal citation and correction by me—a layperson. Eventually, I got what I was legally entitled to, but only after being misled, stonewalled, or outright lied to by people who should have known better.
The same script repeated itself when dealing with Lorain County Commissioners Jeff Riddell and Dave Moore, who refused to answer my public records requests directly, instead outsourcing all responses to Mr. Petticord. But Petticord’s office would then say I named the wrong party in Court of Claims, leading to the dismissal of my case. They set me up to fail.
And that failure cost me—time, energy, and money—just to access footage that your office later admitted should have been provided from the start.
3. Why I Say “Liar” and Not “Mistaken”
Let’s be clear: this isn’t semantics. A mistake is corrected when discovered. A lie is maintained, repeated, and institutionalized until a court intervenes. I was:
Told records didn’t exist that later were produced.
Told legal exemptions applied that later were retracted.
Told I named the wrong party, then later told I should have known the right one.
Denied records for so long they would have been overwritten—had Petticord not quietly kept a copy.
Your office, under your leadership, ultimately did the right thing. But only after the harm was done, and only after the court system forced it. That isn’t an honest disagreement over law—that’s institutionalized dishonesty with legal consequences.
4. You Inherited This Problem. But It’s Yours Now to Fix.
I recognize that you assumed office in January 2025. The misconduct I describe here began long before that—under your predecessor, J.D. Tomlinson, and continued via legacy staff who remain in positions of power today. These individuals are not just representing your office; they are defining its reputation.
You have the opportunity to lead differently: to prioritize transparency over institutional self-protection, to instruct your staff to give direct answers, and to end the pattern of bureaucratic manipulation that forces citizens like me into court just to get the truth.
I am not your enemy. But I will never stop holding public officials accountable for lying to me, delaying justice, or weaponizing procedure to deny lawful access to public records.
The court saw through it. The record reflects it. And history will remember who corrected it—and who didn’t.
Sincerely,
Aaron Christopher Knapp, LSW, CDCA, BSSW
Constituent | Litigant | Public Advocate