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John Kovach Jr. has been fired from his job as a police officer in Lorain, Ohio. Kovach was caught on dash cam illegally detaining his daughter’s boyfriend without cause. Kovach pulled over 18-year-old Makai Coleman and then said he would be taking the teenager to jail.
Coleman asked why he was being detained and was told, “You’re going to jail. Have a seat in my car. We’ll make s*** up as we go.”
After the incident was referred to County Prosecutor Dennis Will for review, it was determined that Kovach would be fired. Kovach, who had been a police officer since 1992, was fired for violating various sections of the department’s standards of conduct and policy and procedures.
“These actions are not acceptable for members of our Police Department and we felt it warranted immediate dismissal,” Safety-Service Director Dan Given said, via the Chronicle-Telegram.
Details of the incident are as follows:
He tells the driver, his daughter’s boyfriend Makai Coleman, 18, to get out because he’s “going to jail.” Coleman asks Kovach what for and Kovach responds: “Have a seat in my car. We’ll make (expletive) up as we go.” Coleman goes and sits in Kovach’s cruiser.
Kovach then addresses Gloria Morales, who comes out of her home nearby because her children are two of the three people in the car with Coleman. He tells Morales his daughter’s computer is inside her house and while she initially gives him permission to search the house, she later tells him to come back with a search warrant when he threatens to give her daughter a $300 ticket for not wearing her seatbelt.
Morales and Kovach argue back and forth after Kovach tells her to go inside the house. When she says she is calling 911, he threatens to arrest her, telling her it is not an emergency, according to documents related to the firing. He tells her two children to get out of the car and go with Morales. At that point, he notices his daughter, Katlyn Kovach, 18, in the backseat.
At that point, Kovach tells Coleman to get out of the cruiser and he pushes his daughter into the cruiser while she protests that she is 18 and can’t be arrested for without cause. He eventually gets her into the cruiser and drives away.
To make matters worse for Kovach, he can be heard ignoring a road rage incident while illegally detaining Coleman.
Kovach is appealing his firing.
“Because the collective bargaining agreement stipulates that disciplinary procedures are private, I will reserve my comments until after the case has been decided,” FOP President Kyle Gelenius said. “Nonetheless, Officer Kovach is looking forward to presenting his side of the story to a neutral arbitrator this coming September, when the arbitration is scheduled.”
