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Archive for the ‘Warren Ohio’ Category
Charges Against Victim Of Fired Warren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach’s Taser Weapon Torture Attack To Be Dismissed
January 3rd, 2008
WARREN, OHIO — Charges against a Howland woman who was jolted by a Taser multiple times during her Sept. 2, 2007, arrest likely will be dismissed today in Warren Municipal Court.
Heidi Gill, 38, was scheduled for a jury trial Monday on charges of falsification, resisting arrest, criminal damaging and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
On Wednesday, Assistant Warren Law Director Traci Timko Rose filed a motion seeking dismissal of the charges without prejudice, meaning they can be refiled later. Rose said Judge Thomas Gysegem had not signed the dismissal order as of Wednesday afternoon, but she expected that to happen today.
Rose said she filed the motion because the arresting officer, Richard Kovach, would not testify. Kovach was fired Dec. 6 for misconduct in another case and was recommended for a 60-day suspension for the Gill incident.
Read MoreSlap On The Wrist Recommended For Warren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach After Using Taser Weapon To Torture Woman
November 20th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — Police Chief John Mandopoulos is recommending a 60-day suspension for Officer Richard Kovach for his use of a Taser on an intoxicated woman.
The final determination will be made by Safety-Service Director William “Doug” Franklin.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer Sgt. Dan Hudak And Liberty Police Officer George Bednar Fight At Gas Station
November 10th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO - We have a story tonight about a fight with officers from both Warren and Liberty there.
They weren’t breaking it up, they were involved.
Peggy Sinkovich talked to police officials and tells us what happened.
Liberty Patrolman George Bednar was on routine patrol the morning of Oct. 21, when a license plate he ran showed the owner was wanted on a felony theft warrant.
He stopped the car at a gas station on Belmont, and when he began to arrest the woman driver, her boyfriend, Warren Police Sgt. Dan Hudak, who was also in the car, began arguing, telling Bednar to “forget about the warrant.”
“He made some callous remarks toward our officer. I don’t think that was necessary for him to do that. He was doing his job. When there is a warrant out for someone’s arrest, we are obligated by law to follow through with the arrest. To not make the arrest, the officer could be held criminally responsible for not doing that,” Liberty Police Chief Tony Slifka said.
Read MoreSuspended Warren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach Faces Charges After His Taser Weapon Torture Attack On Woman
November 4th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — Among the laundry list of charges Patrolman Richard Kovach faces for repeatedly using a Taser on an intoxicated woman is inhumane treatment.
Kovach, 40, was placed on administrative leave about three weeks after a police dashcam videotape of the Sept. 2 arrest of 38-year-old Heidi Gill of Howland outside Up The Creek, a Warren bar on East Market Street, was reviewed.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach Suspended For Just 10 Days For Violation Of Motorist’s Civil Rights - Same Officer Tortured Woman With Taser Weapon
October 31st, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A police officer accused of violating the civil rights of a Warren resident during a traffic stop has been suspended for 10 days without pay.
See Also: HERE
Richard Kovach’s punishment was handed down Tuesday by Chief John Mandopoulos.
The suspension is the result of a disciplinary hearing held Thursday that stemmed from an internal investigation of the Aug. 23 arrest of Timothy Brown II of Warren, who had filed a complaint accusing Kovach of misconduct. Brown is the son of Warren officer Tim Brown.
Mandopoulos said Kovach’s actions during the Brown traffic stop didn’t merit termination, and other officers who have acted in a similar manner received the same disciplinary recommendation. He also said officers have progressive discipline built into their union contracts.
Read More$2 Million Lawsuit Filed After Warren Ohio Police Officer Reuben Shaw Gets Into Altercation, Officers Crash Wedding Reception And Use Clubs, Taser Weapons, And Pepper Spray On Attendees
October 31st, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A Niles man has sued the city of Warren and its police department for the way six police officers treated him last October outside of Aulizio’s Catering and Banquet Hall on Youngstown Road.
Joseph Kijowski, 28, of Peffer Avenue, filed the suit in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, seeking more than $2 million in compensatory and punitive damages. Charges originally filed against him were dropped.
Kijowski said he was attending a wedding reception at Aulizio’s on Oct. 28, 2006, when Reuben Shaw, an off-duty Warren police officer, and several guests got into an altercation outside of the banquet hall. Shaw called for help from on-duty Warren police officers.
The lawsuit said that Kijowski was not involved in the original altercation but that he entered a vehicle with the groom, who had been involved in the altercation, before the on-duty police officers arrived.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach’s Taser Weapon Torture Victim Wants Closure - Bogus Felony Assault On A Police Officer Charge Is Dismissed, Suspended Cop Not Available To Testfiy
October 26th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — Heidi Gill of Howland, who received national attention when a city policeman used a Taser stun gun to subdue her, wants judged by a jury.
See Also: Richard Kovach HERE
“I just want to get it over,” Gill said after appearing Tuesday afternoon before municipal Judge Thomas Gysegem, with her attorney, Mark Hanni of Youngstown.
During the hearing, prosecutor Tracy Timko-Rose dismissed a felony charge of assaulting a police officer, filed against her after her Sept. 2 arrest outside a Warren night spot.
A trial date was set for Jan. 7 with a pre-trial conference scheduled for Dec. 17 on charges of falsification, resisting arrest, disorderly conduct and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle — all misdemeanors that can be heard at the municipal court level.
“This is not a lot of fun for me right now,” Gill said after the hearing.
Read MoreAttorney For Victim Of Warren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach’s Taser Weapon Torture Attack Expects Officer To Be Charged Criminally After FBI Investigation
October 25th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A Youngstown attorney representing a woman repeatedly stung with a Taser said Thursday he expects the police officer involved to be charged criminally after an FBI investigation.
See Also: Richard Kovach HERE
Attorney Mark Hanni also threatened to file a federal lawsuit against Patrolman Richard Kovach, the Warren Police Department and the city of Warren in behalf of his client, Heidi Gill.
Gill, 38, of Pintail Drive N.E., was in Warren Municipal Court Thursday afternoon when a felony charge of assault on a police officer was dismissed by Assistant Law Director Traci Timko Rose.
Rose told Municipal Judge Thomas Gysegem that due to the fact that the arresting officer was the subject of an internal investigation and would be unavailable to testify, she would dismiss the most serious charge without prejudice. That means the charge can be refiled at a later date.
Read MoreWarren Police Officer Richard Kovach Faces Hearing After Brutal Taser Weapon Attack On Motorist
October 24th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A city police officer being investigated for his use of a Taser on a Howland woman last month will face a disciplinary hearing Thursday on another accusation of misconduct.
The internal affairs investigation of a traffic stop made Aug. 23 by Patrolman Richard Kovach was released Tuesday. The probe began after Timothy Brown II, son of Warren officer Tim Brown, filed a complaint Aug. 25.
Police had issued an alert several hours earlier for Brown’s brother, Steven D. Brown, who has been charged in connection to the Aug. 21 shooting death of Johnny Williamson, 24, inside his North Park Avenue home.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach, Under Investigation After Attacking Woman With Taser Weapon, Faces Another Complaint
October 12th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO - A Warren police officer already under investigation for allegedly using a taser numerous times during the arrest of a Howland woman is now facing another complaint.
Peggy Sinkovich talked to city officials and the 23-year-old man who filed the complaint against officer Richard Kovach and files this report.
Tim Brown II…Knew police were looking for his step brother steven in connection with a murder, but was still surprised when police pulled him over August 23rd.
Since Tim is the son of a Warren police officer he tells me he didn’t want to cause any problems, so he complied with the officers orders.
As you can hear from this dash camera video, moments after the stop, police were advised they had the wrong man.
Read MoreAmerica’s Police Brutality Pandemic
October 12th, 2007
WASHINGTON, DC - Bush’s “war on terror” quickly became Bush’s war on Iraqi civilians. So far over one million Iraqi civilians have lost their lives because of Bush’s invasion, and four million have been displaced. Iraq’s infrastructure is in ruins. Disease is rampart. Normal life has disappeared.
Self-righteous Americans justify these monstrous crimes as necessary to ensure their own safety from terrorist attack. Yet, Americans are in far greater danger from their own police forces than they are from foreign terrorists. Ironically, Bush’s “war on terror” has made Americans less safe at home by diminishing US civil liberty and turning an epidemic of US police brutality into a pandemic.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach, Featured In Recent Video Brutally Attacking And Torturing Woman With Taser Weapon, Was Previous Subject Of Excessive Force Suit
September 29th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A Warren police officer under fire for the use of his Taser during an arrest earlier this month was accused in a federal civil rights lawsuit almost a decade ago of falsely arresting and holding a Warren woman against her will.
The quarter million dollar suit filed by a then-18-year-old Joi Morris of Warren against Patrolman Richard Kovach and the city was settled out of court before it went to trial. Terms of the settlement are confidential.
It claimed an off-duty Kovach arrested Morris without cause, held her against her will at police headquarters and used excessive force ‘‘in light of the circumstances existing at the time’’ in the parking lot of the Parkman Road N.W. Kmart on March 12, 1997.
Morris was charged with disorderly conduct March 13, 1997, which is the same day the charge was dismissed, according to Warren Municipal Court records.
Read MoreLawyer Targets Warren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach After His Brutal Taser Attack On Woman, Who Previously Beat Another Woman With Baton
September 27th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — Hours after Warren Law Director Gregory V. Hicks appeared on a national news show to discuss a controversial Taser-aided police arrest, the syndicated TV show ‘‘Inside Edition’’ was in town interviewing a local attorney about his plans to file a lawsuit in another arrest by the same police officer.
‘‘I’ve talked with the city about the case and I anticipate filing a lawsuit in federal court,’’ Gilbert Rucker said Wednesday. He said recent media attention focused on Patrolman Richard Kovach could help his case involving another woman Kovach arrested at another bar.
Rucker said Kovach used an asp — a slender, retractable wand that police carry in their service belt — to strike Yalanda Dukes of Warren on the head, leaving bloody marks in her scalp and hairline.
The lawyer showed photos of Dukes’ injuries that could be part of his anticipated excessive force-civil rights lawsuit.
Read MoreUnarmed Woman, Victim Of Warren Ohio Police Officer Rich Kovach’s Brutal Taser Weapon Attack, Says She Did Nothing To Deserve Torture By Officer
September 27th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO - Heidi Gill admits she had been drinking at a bar in Warren, Ohio, and gotten into a “disagreement” with a bartender earlier this month. But she said she didn’t deserve to have a police officer use a Taser gun on her multiple times.
Warren, Ohio, officer Rich Kovach is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation.
Video footage from the police cruiser shows Gill, 38, crawling on the ground while the officer stands over her with the stun gun. She’s screaming wildly. At one point, officer Rich Kovach shoves her with his foot as she struggles.
“I’ve never been electrocuted,” she told CNN’s “American Morning” on Wednesday. “I didn’t know what this was. And I really didn’t think this pain was ever going to stop. It was nonstop.”
She said she was trying anything to get away “so I could live.” Video Watch Gill describe the Taser treatment »
Read MoreWarren City Ohio Police Officer Rich Kovach Suspended After Brutal Taser Weapon Attack On Woman, Shocked Her 7 Times, Twice While Handcuffed
September 21st, 2007
WARREN, OHIO - An Ohio police officer has been put on paid administrative leave after his own police cruiser’s dash camera captured him using a stun gun to subdue a handcuffed woman, an attorney for the city of Warren, Ohio, told CNN on Thursday.
Warren City, Ohio, police officer Rich Kovach said he used his stun gun seven times on Heidi Gill.
Warren City police are investigating a September 2 incident in which the officer repeatedly used a Taser to control the woman, who police allege was wildly out of control after being forced from a bar.
According to Officer Rich Kovach’s own police report, he shocked Heidi Gill, 38, seven times — twice after she had been handcuffed.
In the report, filed September 4, Kovach describes responding to a “fight/disturbance inside the bar” and finding a belligerent Gill, who began cursing, refused to give her real name, then tried to flee.
Read MoreCop Gone Wild: Warren Ohio Police Officer Richard Kovach Attacks Handcuffed Woman With Taser Weapon At Least Twice
September 20th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A police officer accused of using a stun gun on a woman while she was handcuffed has been placed on paid administrative leave.
Video taken from Patrolman Richard Kovach’s cruiser shows him jolting a woman with a Taser gun at least twice after she was handcuffed, police and city administrators said.
The woman, who had been ordered out of a bar, fell face-first to the pavement in the bar’s parking lot after being struck the final time with the electrical disabling device, officials said.
Mayor Michael O’Brien said Kovach was removed from street duty about a week ago.
“He’s on administrative leave per the contract we have with police,” O’Brien said. “And an internal investigation is already under way, initiated by the police department and not by way of a complaint.”
Read MoreTrial Of Former Warren Ohio Police Officer Det. Dewey Gray Postponed
July 25th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — The trial of a former Warren detective who is accused of theft in office and evidence tampering in a ticket-fixing case was postponed Monday after the one-time investigator agreed to take a polygraph test.
For now, the trial of Dewey Gray — which was supposed to start Monday with jury selection — was rescheduled for Aug. 20.
An agreement signed by Trumbull County Judge Andrew Logan, Gray, defense attorney Jeffrey Goodman and Assistant Prosecutor Charles Morrow makes it clear that the polygraph exam will be considered evidence in the case.
Also outlined in the document is the fact that Mike LoPresti of the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation will perform the exam.
‘‘We feel confident Dewey will pass the test. He already passed the first one,’’ said Goodman, referring to an unstipulated polygraph test arranged earlier by an Akron polygraph expert.
Read MoreFormer Warren Ohio Police Officer Dewey Gray Charged With Fixing Speeding Ticket For $350
March 22nd, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A man who used to enforce the law is now in trouble with the law on charges he fixed a traffic ticket.
Investigators say former Warren police officer Dewey Gray took $350 cash to make a speeding ticket go away in February 2003, a claim his attorney says is bogus.
‘‘I’m still reviewing the case,’’ attorney Michael Rossi said Wednesday afternoon. ‘‘Dewey never benefited from this. I don’t know. Maybe it’s the right time of the year for false accusations.
‘‘Frankly, I’m not particularly concerned with these accusations. I could question why this is four years old,’’ Rossi said, also describing what’s outlined in the indictment could be considered a discretionary action on the part of a police officer.
Authorities say Gray took the ticket — written by patrolman Michael Krafcik to a friend of Gray’s — without anyone knowing from the lieutenant’s office inside the basement of the Police Department on Feb. 19, 2003, and disposed of the citation.
Read MoreJudge Dismisses Charges Against Woman In Case Which Resulted In Federal Lawsuit Against Warren Ohio And Police Officers Doug Hipple And Nick Carney For Excessive Force In Woman’s Beating, Unlawful Arrest, Violation Of 1st Amendment Rights, Assault And Battery, False Imprisonment, Malicious Prosecution, And Infliction Of Emotional Distress
February 15th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — Charges have been dismissed against a city woman whose arrest in October 2004 on allegations she hit a police officer led to a federal lawsuit against the city of Warren and several of its police officers.
Warren Municipal Court Judge Terry F. Ivanchak dismissed charges against Terra C. Brown of Atlantic Street Northeast on Tuesday, Warren Prosecutor Nick Graham said. Graham said the judge ruled that the time allowed by law for the prosecution to bring the case to trial had expired.
“It had nothing to do with the merits of the case. We just ran out of time,” Graham said, adding that charges can’t be refiled.
Patrol Officer Doug Hipple has testified that he arrested Brown after she hit him several times after Hipple arrested her son, Regis Allgood, 14, on a disorderly conduct charge. Hipple and Officer Nick Carney arrested the boy after they say he swore at Hipple.
Read MoreFormer Warren Municipal Court Deputy Clerk Judith DeJacimo Stenced To 18 Months In Prison For Embezzling $48K
January 26th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — A former Warren Municipal Court deputy clerk apologized to ‘‘everyone involved’’ and the court she stole from before she was sentenced to 18 months in prison for embezzling at least $48,000. The theft prompted a lengthy state audit which cost $77,000.
Judith DeJacimo, 49, must serve at least 30 days before applying for judicial release. A prosecutor said he will oppose early release until at least 60 days are served behind bars.
But Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge John M. Stuard said restitution must be paid before he will think about releasing DeJacimo.
The problem is no one can pinpoint the exact amount of restitution at this point. The cost of the audit is being disputed in civil litigation in another court.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer Jeffrey Edmundson Cited After Running Red Light And Resulting Crash Which Sent Two To The Hospital
January 24th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO — The Warren police officer who crashed while on his way to a burglary now faces a traffic charge.
Patrolman Jeffrey Edmundson didn’t regard the safety of other motorists when he passed through a red light, an Ohio State Highway Patrol investigator found. The patrol said it has cited the 28-year-old officer in connection to the Jan. 16 crash that sent two people to the hospital.
Edmundson was cited with the charge of emergency vehicles to proceed cautiously, punishable by up to a $150 fine.
He was on his way to help catch a man accused of stealing 28 watches worth $66,000 minutes earlier from Thom Duma Fine Jewelers on Courthouse Square. Another officer had the man cornered in an alley near the Robins Theatre in downtown Warren and was asking for help because the man was fighting, police said.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Police Officer, Sgt. Martin Gargas, Misses Intended Target, A Child, Shocks Another Officer With Taser Weapon
January 16th, 2007
WARREN, OHIO - A police officer was accidentally shocked by another officer’s stun gun while they were trying to subdue a teenager suspected of being drunk, according to a police report.
Patrolman Sean Stephens was struck in the head and shocked with a barb from a Taser fired by Sgt. Martin Gargas. The other barb hit the 14-year-old boy, police said.
Stephens was treated at a hospital and released.
The boy was fighting with officers who were trying to arrest him after curfew early Saturday, police said. He was taken into custody along with a 14-year-old girl who was at the scene.
The teens were released to family members after being charged with unruly curfew and underage consumption of alcohol. The boy also was charged with resisting arrest.
Warren is about 50 miles southeast of Cleveland.
Newton Falls Ohio Police Chief Robert Carlson And Police Officer Michael Laswell Sued Over Wrongful Arrest In Chruch Raid
December 12th, 2006
WARREN, OHIO — Edward T. Arrich Jr. of Newton Falls has filed a wrongful arrest lawsuit against the city of Newton Falls, its police chief and one of his officers over a raid at St. Mary Church on May 7, 2005, in which Arrich was arrested.
Arrich filed the suit Monday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, naming Police Chief Robert Carlson and police officer Michael Laswell.
The suit said the Falls Knight’s Foundation was holding a poker tournament supervised by Arrich at the church when Carlson and Laswell arrested him.
Arrich was charged with operating a gambling house, illegal gaming and possession of criminal tools. The officers also executed a search warrant of Arrich’s car and home and seized several items.
The suit said the seizure of several items from Arrich’s car and home put him out of business as an insurance agent, and his arrest damaged his reputation.
Read MoreWarren Ohio Municipal Court Deputy Clerk Judith DeJacimo Pleads Guilty To Steating More Than $100K From The Court
August 18th, 2006
WARREN, OHIO — A former Warren Municipal Court deputy clerk pleaded guilty to stealing more than $100,000 from the court and agreed to tell where all the money went.
Judith DeJacimo, 49, also will undergo a presentence investigation before being sentenced by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge John M. Stuard on the fourth-degree felony charge of theft in office.
DeJacimo’s attorney, Mich-ael Rossi, is expected to argue for probation for his client at sentencing, but the plea agreement signed Thursday includes county Assistant Prosecutor David Toepfer’s recommendation that she be given 17 months in prison.
In exchange for her plea, an additional count of theft in office and a charge of tampering with records was dismissed.
The former court clerk also agreed to pay $30,000 in a month to six weeks at the time of sentencing and undergo a polygraph exam to confirm her story on the money trail. She remains free on bond in the meantime.
Read MoreDeputy Court Clerk, Accused of Stealing More Than $17K From Court, Seeks Frozen Sick and Vacation Pay
January 10th, 2006
OHIO, WARREN - The attorney for a woman accused of pilfering more than $17,000 from Warren Municipal Court has filed action with the Ohio Supreme Court, demanding release of her accumulated sick and vacation pay that the city froze after charges were filed.
Attorney Michael Rossi filed the writ of mandamus this week, claiming that the sick and vacation leave benefits is money that Judith DeJacimo already earned as a deputy court clerk before she resigned Dec. 7 in the wake of criminal allegations.
The mandamus states that Municipal Judges Thomas Gysegem and Terry Ivanchak requested that city Auditor David Griffing withhold the benefits.
“As such, we anticipate very strongly that restitution issues may well come into play as the investigation proceeds,” the judges said in a Nov. 16 letter to Griffing.
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