Retired Mentor Police Officer Is Arrested After Body Is Found In His House

A former Mentor Police officer is being held after , Lake County Sheriff Daniel Dunlap said.

Gary Stroud, 57, is being held on a charge of tampering with evidence.

"That's the only charge we have right now," Dunlap said.

Mentor-on-the-Lake Police received a call about a body that was found in a residence within the city at about 8 p.m. Sunday, Mentor-on-the-Lake Police Chief John Gielink said.

According to Dunlap, the body was inside of Stroud's home on Marine Parkway Drive.

The body was transported to the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office where an autopsy will be performed today.

Police are not releasing the name of the person and where he or she was found yet. First, authorities have to identify who the person is. Then, that person's family needs to be notified, Gielink said.

Though Stroud is only held on a tampering with evidence charge, he has not been offered bond yet. He is being held in isolation at Lake County Jail, Dunlap said.

Stroud retired from the Mentor Police Department more than five years ago. Since then, he has worked for the Lake County Sheriff's Office part time as a special deputy.

He provided court security, helped deliver papers, escorted clerical employees to the bank and did other odd jobs, Dunlap said.

The sheriff added that Stroud did not have a history of violence at the department.

"There were never any serious problems with him," Dunlap said. "A couple of times he left his post early but that was addressed."

Stroud was laid off by the department in September -- not because he was remiss in his work but because of financial necessities, Dunlap said.

Stroud's house was foreclosed on in October, according to Lake County Court of Common Pleas records, but it has not been sold yet.

Authorities have not released a cause of death yet for the body.