The attorney for Maj. John DiPietro said Thursday that the fired Miami Twp. Deputy Police Chief will file an administrative appeal with the Montgomery County Common Pleas Court and explore other litigation options.

“We think the township trustees were wrong in their decision,” attorney Richard Lipowicz said. “We intend to take it to another forum and hopefully will be successful in convincing the court that our position is correct and the township is not correct.”

Lipowicz said, upon his request, trustees gave DiPietro written notice of his termination. That started the 10-day clock to file a request for an administrative appeal. “In that document will be stated reasons that we feel the Board of Trustees’ decision was erroneous,” Lipowicz said.

“We’re going to be asking the township to prepare a transcript of the entire hearing, which was held in executive session,” Lipowicz said. “And that will be a part of the record of that case.”

DiPietro was fired Wednesday after township trustees found him guilty of violations of the township’s professional code. They all relate to DiPietro hosing down a naked 17-year-old girl who had been pepper sprayed July 12.

The 3-0 vote of Miami Twp. Trustees Deborah Preston, Charles Lewis and Mike Nolan was announced Wednesday in the township meeting room as DiPietro and Lipowicz watched. The resolution, effective Feb. 13, found DiPietro guilty of four of the original six charges of misconduct found in an internal affairs report done by the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office.

Ohio Revised Code 505.49 states in part, “In case of removal or suspension of an appointee by the board of township trustees of a township police district or the joint police district board, that appointee may appeal the decision of either board to the court of common pleas of the county in which the district is situated to determine the sufficiency of the cause of removal or suspension. The appointee shall take the appeal within ten days of written notice to the appointee of the decision of the board.”

Last year, the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office declined to pursue criminal charges in the decontamination case. Spokesman Greg Flannagan said at the time that there was “insufficient evidence that any felony occurred. As far as we’re concerned, there are not going to be any criminal charges.”

DiPietro, who started with the Miami Twp. Police Department part-time in 1986 and became full-time in 1989, has been deputy chief for about 12 years and made about $84,000 last year. DiPietro has been the subject of other internal investigations and disciplinary action.