A white police officer in Lorain, Ohio, was fired after an internal investigation revealed he abused his authority by detaining his daughter and her black boyfriend during an April 16 incident without cause, the Chronicle-Telegram reported.
Dash camera footage posted online shows officer John Kovach Jr. approaching a car he pulled over and telling the driver, his daughter's reported boyfriend, Makai Coleman, to "get out" the car and that he's "going to jail." As Coleman exited the vehicle and questioned why he was going to jail, Kovach Jr. said, "We'll make s**t up as we go."
According to the Chronicle-Telegram, Kovach Jr. initiated the stop without alerting dispatch. As the officer walked Coleman to his police car and placed him in the backseat, he warned him not to "get smart," or he'd "do something" to him. Kovach Jr. was reportedly looking for his daughter, Kaitlyn, who he believed was suicidal. Kovach Jr. didn't immediately realize his daughter was in the backseat of the vehicle he pulled over the entire time.
Later in the video, Kovach Jr. approached the passenger side of the vehicle inquiring about the whereabouts of his daughter. He then got into an argument with Gloria Morales whose two children were in the car at the time. He repeatedly asked Morales if his daughter was inside her home, where the vehicle was pulled over, and the mom continued to confirm she wasn't.
Kovach Jr. accused Morales of being "disorderly" and insisted he would give her daughter seated in the front a $300 ticket for allegedly not wearing her seatbelt. Morales told the officer he was making the situation "personal" and instructed him to get a warrant before searching her home for his daughter. The mom then said she would call 911 for his conduct to which Kovach Jr. replied, "Call 911, you're going to jail."
During Kovach Jr.'s exchange with Morales, he accused Coleman of "harboring" his daughter.
"That boy has been harboring her, okay, I heard she was suicidal…"
Kovach Jr. eventually spotted his daughter in the vehicle and instructed her to get in the backseat of his police car. He then told Coleman to leave the police car as his daughter cried, "You can't take me; I'm 18."
The officer placed his daughter in the backseat of the police car as she cried and insisted she never indicated she was suicidal. Kovach Jr. said he was taking her to the hospital.
According to the Chronicle-Telegram, Kovach Jr. was called to a road rage incident during the time of his exchange with Coleman, Kaitlyn and Morales, but he did not appear to respond to the dispatch call.
Safety-Service Director Dan Given said Kovach Jr.'s actions were "not acceptable," resulting in his firing on May 11.
“These actions are not acceptable for members of our Police Department, and we felt it warranted immediate dismissal," Givens said, per the Chronicle-Telegram.
According to the Chronicle-Telegram, Kovach Jr. allegedly told fellow officers his ex-wife alerted him to disturbing Facebook posts by Coleman about their daughter and prostitution, but the investigation revealed his ex-wife was not aware of those posts. The officer also claimed Coleman was driving at high speed at the time he pulled the vehicle over, but the investigation disputed those claims.
Kovach Jr. reportedly told Lt. Ed Super, who was conducting the investigation, that his ex-wife allegedly said Coleman once reportedly threatened her after she told him to leave her home when she found him and their daughter engaging in sexual conduct. He also told Super his daughter once said, “If I can’t be with him, I don’t want to be here anymore,” which he said he interpreted as suicidal. Super reportedly noted the ex-wife said she too had " concerns about the relationship," according to the Chronicle-Telegram.
Lorain Police Chief Cel Rivera said Kovach Jr.'s actions were "an abuse of police authority and a serious departure from appropriate protocol…they are contrary to the mission, values and policies of the Lorain Police Department."
The police department's union is reportedly appealing Kovach Jr.'s firing.
