Etter, 47, is facing 16 counts of aggravated menacing and one count of handling a weapon while intoxicated in Montgomery County Municipal Court, Western Division. All 17 counts are first-degree misdemeanors.
On July 6, Perry Twp. police responded to the 12000 block of Old Dayton Road just after 10:30 p.m. for a weapons complaint.
Body camera footage showed officers speaking to a group of people who said they were putting on a fireworks show when a man, later identified as Etter, reportedly threatened them with a gun. Another man claimed Etter was on his property firing his gun.
When police spoke to Etter, he claimed he had a rifle slung on his back, but that it never came off his back. He also said he asked the group to point the fireworks in a different direction because he feared they would set his field on fire.
Officers asked Etter why he brought a gun when he went to talk to the group. Etter replied he didn’t know them. Asked how much he had to drink, Etter told police “maybe four or five.”
Police told Etter they could smell a strong odor of alcohol coming from him and that he knows, as a police officer, that he cannot carry a firearm while intoxicated.
On July 9, Etter pleaded not guilty to all charges. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19.
Etter’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.
Etter, who began working for MTPD in May 2000, moved up the ranks from lieutenant to assistant chief in June 2023.
He was previously placed on paid administrative leave in February after being accused of violating police department general orders and the township’s personnel policies.
A hearing on the matter occurred in March. In April, the township’s Board of Trustees took action against Etter for two of the four internal disciplinary charges he faced, clearing him on the other two charges. Township documents said Etter failed to follow up on a harassment claim and indicated an intent to retaliate against an employee.
Trustees administered a disciplinary penalty of an unpaid suspension for 30 calendar days and an immediate demotion to the position of lieutenant with no ability to serve in an acting capacity above that rank.
Reporting by Staff Writer Kristen Spicker was included in this report.
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