CIRCLEVILLE, Ohio — As a community mourns the death of a police officer details are emerging about his home life that may shine a light on why he took his own life.
Circleville Police Officer Erick Eberhard, 40, died by his own hand last month while off-duty. He had been a K-9 unit with the city’s police department since 2020, paired with a K-9 partner named Serge.
Eberhard’s death rocked the community to its core. He had been a volunteer coach for children’s sports, a fixture in local news for successful drug busts at work, and perhaps, known most of all as a father to young children who are involved in the community.
Hundreds of people took to social media to share their memories of Eberhard. Many said he touched their lives in ways that impacted them for the better. One woman recalled how he saved her from an abusive relationship by getting her the resources she needed to leave her toxic husband. Another said he consoled her when her daughter took her own life. Both of those memories will be ironic in Eberhard’s legacy, as he battled those same demons, himself.
Allegations of abuse.
The Guardian received public records from the Pickaway County Sheriff’s Office that detail the officer’s troubled life while off-duty, which shows he was facing a grand jury inquiry and had been placed on paid leave while an internal affairs investigation was underway.
Dozens of pages span several police reports outlining tumultuous romances, allegations of child abuse, and claims of beating his girlfriends.
More than 60 pages reviewed by the Guardian show that the Sheriff’s office was investigating Eberhard in the days leading up to his death after his girlfriend received a broken wrist.
“…. a couple months ago they had gotten into an argument,” a police report reads. “[She] stated that she then went into the basement to get some items and Erick came down, picked her up, and threw her onto the ground.” The report goes on to read that the woman braced herself with her wrist when she landed and snapped her bone, resulting in a full-arm cast.
Several pages throughout the records show that allegations of abuse were a common theme in Eberhard’s personal time. Two more women in his life also reported abuse to the Sheriff’s office. In one instance, it was alleged that he abused his own child; a claim that his son supported in an interview with investigators.
Eberhard allegedly slammed his son into a glass table, threw him across a room in a basement, and left marks on the child’s arm on several occasions. According to his son, the fits of rage were fueled by alcohol. In one police report, Eberhard is alleged to have said he would command his K-9 to attack his girlfriend and “make it look like an accident,” and that Eberhard said he knew “where to hide dead bodies.”
The investigations.
While the Sheriff was probing Eberhard on the allegations of abuse, one of the officer’s ex-girlfriends emailed Eberhard’s boss with her story. The chief said he launched an internal affairs investigation, but on September 2 Eberhard was placed on paid leave by the police department while the Sheriff conducted a criminal investigation.
“Sheriff [Matthew] Hafey advised me that PCSO was conducting a criminal investigation on Erick Eberhard,” said Circleville Police Chief Shawn Baer. “Our internal investigation was immediately stopped and the following day Erick Eberhard was placed on administrative leave. Stopping our investigation pending the outcome of the PCSO criminal investigation and placing the employee on administrative leave is by CPD policy and is an industry best practice.”
While Eberhard was suspended from his job the domestic issues continued, according to police reports, along with his drinking, according to his ex-girlfriend.
Eberhard did not leave a note before taking his own life, but one must beg the question of the timing. On September 12, a packet had been sent to the Pickaway County Prosecutor for possible charges. He remained on paid leave and just a little over a month later, Eberhard’s death would make the front pages of the local news.
Alcoholism and suicide are both common battles that those in law enforcement face. In 2010, a study of police officers working in urban areas found that 11% of male officers and 16% of female officers reported alcohol use levels deemed “at-risk” by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Researchers have long debated the reasons for elevated alcohol consumption among police officers, but most agree that underlying patterns include social and stress-related problems, according to the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation.
Previous research suggests that there is an elevated risk of suicide among workers within law enforcement. While the exact number of officers who die by suicide each year is not known, research suggests that more officers die by suicide each year than in the line of duty. The non-profit organization BLUE H.E.L.P. has estimated that the deaths increased from 143 to 228, from 2016 to 2019. According to the organization, the primary cause of the suicides is mental illness, substance misuse, social isolation, relationship problems, and legal and financial issues. Additional factors more specific to the law enforcement profession include exposure to suicide and other traumatic events (e.g., child abuse, violence, death of a colleague), easy access to firearms and skills in their use, and organizational stressors (e.g., shift work, administrative burden).
Baer said that the city will finish and close out their internal affairs investigation, while county Prosecutor Judy Wolford said the grand jury investigation into Eberhard is closed because of his death.
K-9 Serge will be paired with another officer once the police department has trained a new K-9 handler.
If you or a loved one are thinking about harming yourself, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-TALK (8255).
If you or a loved one are victims of domestic violence, for anonymous, confidential help, 24/7, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.