A Dispatch employee was involved in an incident when Columbus police were called to the Trotter Convention Center downtown on Tuesday morning.
Dispatch managing editor Zack Plair visited Trotter director Rogena Bonner on Tuesday during a scheduled interview for a story on rental agreements at the facility. Plair had previously submitted a public records request to examine event booking documents and receipts from Dec. 1, 2018 through Mar. 31, 2019.
While Plair was examining the documents in Bonner’s office, he took photos of documents with his phone. Bonner told him he couldn’t take the pictures, and Plair said he could. A verbal altercation ensued, during which both parties raised their voices and Bonner called police. No physical contact was made between the parties.
Statements were taken, but no charges have been filed.
The Dispatch submitted a public records request for the incident report, and city attorney Jeff Turnage responded that there is no incident report from the call.
When Plair visited Columbus Police Department Thursday morning in a personal capacity to obtain copies of the report taken at the scene, he was told he would have to wait seven days before receiving them.
Bonner has not returned multiple calls from The Dispatch since Tuesday.
Publisher’s note: Some of the above facts are a result of Dispatch publisher Peter Imes witnessing statements made to police by parties involved in this incident. Imes was involved in the editing of this story; Plair did not participate in writing or editing this story.
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