Medina Township police officer found guilty of criminal trespass, not guilty of falsification

MEDINA — Medina Township police Officer Matt Ventura was found guilty of criminal trespass during a roughly eight-hour trial Thursday with a not guilty verdict on a falsification charge also being decided. Charges stem from a 2021 incident at the Worchester Lane home of Ventura's estranged wife, Angela Ventura, who serves as Medina Township's fiscal officer. The case was tried before Judge Gary Werner in Medina County Municipal Court. Criminal trespass carries fourth-degree misdemeanor classification while falsification is a first-degree misdemeanor. Matt Ventura, 51, is a 21-year member of the Medina Township Police Department and was placed on paid administrative leave last July. According to a timeline laid out by both prosecution and defense, Matt Ventura arrived at his wife's home on May 22 with the intent of helping prepare for their son's birthday party, despite a text exchange that morning urging him to stay away. Angela Ventura is the only name on the home's deed. Shortly after 4 p.m., the officer decided to enter the home and called a locksmith to bypass additional security his wife had put in place to keep him out, according to testimony. After that lockpick was successful, Ventura called Medina County Sheriff's Office dispatch to request a "standby assist," in which a deputy would come to the scene to witness him entering the home. In body camera footage displayed in court, Ventura can be heard telling a deputy that he still lived at the residence, which was the basis of the falsification charge. "(Officer) Ventura is not used to hearing no," prosecuting state attorney Bob Campbell told the jury. "You know he's not used to hearing no because when asked how many times Angela needed to tell him no, we came up with three or four until he'd respect that. If someone wants property out of a house that doesn't belong to them, if it was you or me, we'd have to hire a lawyer, file a proceeding, and get a court to sort it out for us. "Someone who's used to getting his own way as a police officer takes the law into their own hands. He thought, 'I don't care what she says. I'm going in that house.' Mr. Ventura made the Medina County sheriff's department an unwitting co-conspirator in this. That's the falsification. He never told the deputy, 'I've been put out of this house and all the locks have been changed.'" Officer Ventura did not enter the home until law enforcement arrived, video footage showed. Testimony from the locksmith indicated that Ventura's driver's license listed the residence as his home address. Upon arrival of law enforcement, a check for any legal filing barring Matt Ventura from entering the home came back negative, according to testimony. Ventura was reportedly told by his wife to leave the home May 4 and had been staying in a separate residence between that time and May 22. Attorneys said they had been living together earlier in 2021 and had sought marriage counseling. Defense attorney Brent English contended that his client reasonably assumed he was still legally entitled to enter the home and did not attempt to mislead law enforcement. Basis for a not guilty verdict on the falsification charge was not given before court adjourned. "My client went to the house to help out his young son on his birthday and they claim this constitutes criminal trespass," English said. "I'm sorry. I'm a practical person. If that made any sense I'd stand up here and tell you it makes sense under the circumstances. It makes no sense, none. It's almost absurd. It's preposterous to suggest there's been a criminal trespass and a fraudulent statement made to a law enforcement officer. "(Ventura) had been living there for 10 years and, periodically, he'd be told to leave for no reason at all, and he'd leave. It's obvious they have a dysfunctional relationship. It's smart of him, as a police officer of 21 years, to not get into it with (his wife). He'd leave for a period of time and then it'd be OK to come back. That's the situation we had here. Now, suddenly there's a divorce and she claims he's trespassing." English added that a text from Angela Ventura reading "lol OK" in response to continued arguing indicated her husband was not barred from the home. Matt Ventura reportedly recovered a motorcycle that he owned from the home's garage and, with assistance from his adult son from a previous marriage, attempted to locate an AR-15 rifle that was also his property with that search being unsuccessful. He departed the house after approximately 15 minutes upon learning his wife had arrived at the home of a next-door neighbor, investigators said. Testimony on Thursday included statements from Matt Ventura, Angela Ventura, a responding Medina County sheriff's deputy, multiple neighbors, the locksmith and Matt Ventura's son. "Based upon Angela's behavior, she gets irrational and says things she shouldn't," Matt Ventura told prosecution. "She gets irrational and angry and loses her temper. I wanted to make sure. If someone tells me no, yeah. With her, I wanted to reconfirm what she was saying just to verify what she was saying was true because she speaks with emotion and anger." Neighbors indicated they'd been informed by Ventura that he no longer lived at the home. The day after the incident, Angela Ventura filed a report claiming her husband had stolen multiple items belonging to her. However, evidence presented Thursday did not back up those allegations. "When I got home that day, (Matt Ventura) and his two grown children were at my house," said Angela Ventura during her testimony. "I didn't want to see them and he texted me saying I was going to regret this. May 3 was the last day he was at my house and he'd worked overnight. On May 4, I made changes (to locks) where he no longer had access. I never gave him permission to be on the property after that." Testimony characterized the couple's relationship as troubled with multiple instances of Ventura being asked to leave the residence across their 12-year marriage. Divorce proceedings are now in progress. No sentencing date has been set for Matt Ventura, who declined to comment after Thursday's trial. Contact reporter Jonathan Delozier at (330) 721-4050 or jdelozier@medina-gazette.com.