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Resident tells commission an animal-control officer summoned sheriff's deputies to her home and called her 'a liar'
Summary
At the Mount Clemens City Commission meeting, resident Kelly Fiser alleged ACO Grell visited her home with sheriff's deputies, called her a liar and "weaponized" police after she complained about persistent barking; city officials said they will investigate.
Kelly Fiser, a Mount Clemens resident, told the City Commission she is a senior with severe COPD and has filed multiple police reports and emails about neighbors’ dogs barking for up to eight to 10 hours a day.
Fiser said she repeatedly tried to reach the animal-control officer, ACO Grell, and left voicemails that went unanswered. She said the ACO later arrived at her home accompanied by sheriff’s deputies, confronted her about an email and “called me a liar to my face,” adding in the meeting that she had been told “I don’t believe you’re telling the truth.”
“That visit felt like an illegal overreach of power,” Fiser said, asserting the ACO had “weaponized a taxpayer-funded police force” to pursue a personal dispute. She said the encounter and ongoing stress have aggravated her health and that she no longer feels safe in Mount Clemens. Fiser said she had written to City Manager Jeffrey Wood and the mayor and had received only an apology from Jeffery Wood and no substantive follow-up.
City officials recorded that a sheriff’s sergeant had previously come to take a formal complaint. During the meeting, the commission’s mayor said she had not received the same email Fiser described and that an automatic response would have been sent while she was on vacation. The mayor said staff would try to obtain Fiser’s contact information and investigate the matter.
The commission did not take formal action on the complaint during the meeting. City Manager Mr. Shipman and the mayor indicated staff would follow up to clarify the sequence of events, whether proper protocols were followed for joint visits with sheriff’s personnel, and any outstanding communication failures.
Fiser said she is weighing legal options; the commission’s public-record discussion did not include a department-level response or disciplinary action during the meeting. The mayor asked staff to investigate and to respond to Fiser directly.
What happens next: The commission’s staff will review the complaint, communications with the ACO and any body-worn camera footage referenced by Fiser, and report back to the commission or to Fiser as appropriate.
