A Killing on Campus

Published in The Toledo Blade on February 2, 1992.
By Michael D. Sallah, Blade Staff Writer.

Jeffrey M. Hodge had a deep desire to wear a badge, say his friends and fellow officers.

The rookie University of Toledo police officer who is accused of handcuffing Melissa Ann Herstrum and shooting her to death on a remote corner of UT's Scott Park campus is described as someone who wanted badly to make his mark as a policeman.

"Just in the first year he was a police officer who had made a lot of arrests, and was very thorough about what he did," said Yarko Kuk, 25, a communications coordinator for UT police and a friend of the suspect.

Officer Hodges' boss, Frank Pizzulo, UT director of public safety, said, "He's a rather quiet individual - very conscientious about his job." 

But the 22-year-old officer also ruffled a few feathers during his first year on campus. 

Several young female students say Officer Hodge sometimes made rude remarks to them during his routine patrols, and once told a young woman that he had her panties.

UT student Bart Bucci described the police officer yesterday as rude during instances when he approached students about small disturbances on campus.

He wasn't very polite, he said. Calls from students began to flood the Toledo police phone lines yesterday as news of the young officer's arrest shook the community.

I've already talked to several girls (from UT) making complaints, said Sgt. David Noggle.

Nevertheless, news of Officer Hodge's arrest yesterday morning at his modest two-bedroom house at 730 Bronx St. in South Toledo was a shock to people who knew him.

"I still don't believe it," said Mr. Kuk, who worked as a fellow dispatcher with Mr. Hodge for two years. "He would have been the last person I thought of."

He could be aggressive about nabbing drunken drivers and trouble-makers on campus, but he did not fit the profile of a cold-blooded killer, said a fellow officer.

The 1987 Lake High School graduate was married a few months ago to his high school sweetheart, Grethe Warendorph with a reception following the ceremony at the Scott Park campus.

"They were like the happiest couple you would want to see," said a friend. who was invited to the couple's house recently for a nihgt of pizza and watching the video Presido. "It's the last thing I expected to hear."

Mr. Hodge, who was raised in the Northwood area, joined the UT force as a dispatcher in September, 1989, and also worked as a county 911 call taker in 1990.

He graduated from the Criminal Justice Training Education Center last spring, and hit the streets as a UT police officer in May.

He completed all requirements of the police academy, including a psychological profile test and firearms training. His salary was $19,300.

On Jan. 20, bullet shells matching the same gun used in the shooting death of Ms. Herstrum were found near a UT dormitory where someone had fired six shots at a room: two shots entered the room and barely missed a student.

Officer Hodge wrote in his report of the incident that he heard the shots ring out at MacKinnon Hall, and he arrived in 40 seconds.

He also was on the scene when officers located the body of Ms. Herstrum.

A woman identified herself as the suspect's mother, Pamela Hodge, hung up when a reporter called the family home near Northwood.

Patricia Osters, a next-door neighbor to the Officer's parents, said the parents threw a graduation party for Mr. Hodge when he graduated from the police academy last spring.

"They are some of the nicest people," Ms. Osters said. "And he's always been very polite and helpful. From what I know of him, he's a very nice young man. He helped put in my stone driveway for me last summer."

No one answered the door at Mr. Hodge's home yesterday. His wife, Gerthe, 22, could not be reached.

A neighbor said the couple were quiet and often could be seen working in their yard.

"They had their home all decorated with lights and a snowman during the holidays," said a woman who lives across the street.

"He's done a nice job just putting in hedges and a fence in the back yard," she said. " I would often wave to him as he walked his dogs, and he's always wave back."

He graduated from Lake High School with a 3.0 average, he wrote on his police application, and he had a 3.0 averave at UT in business management. In high school, he played tennis and was a member of the ski and Spanish clubs.

Fellow officers were upset by his arrest. "I would describe the reaction as shocked. It was very traumatic for them." said Mr. Pizzuol, who hopes to provide counseling to the rank and file.
 

 Return to University of Toledo police corruption.