An Ohio police officer was fired for abusing his authority after pulling over his daughter’s black boyfriend without cause. The officer, who is white, also briefly detained his daughter and the boyfriend in the back of his police vehicle.
John Kovach Jr., a longtime patrolman from Loraine, Ohio was fired last month after an internal investigation found that he violated his department’s policies in the April incident. According to Newsweek, he did not like the boyfriend, 18-year-old Makai Coleman.
In the dash cam video of the incident, Coleman can be seen asking why he is being stopped.
“We’ll make sh** up as we go,” Kovach responds. At another point he baits Coleman, telling him to “get smart so I can do something to you, even more.”
In the video, Kovach can be heard arguing with Gloria Morales who came out of her nearby house to investigate why two of her children, who were in the car with Coleman, were being questioned. Kovach can be heard asking Morales if his 18-year-old daughter Katlyn Kovach is inside the house, as well as why her computer is apparently in the house. Kovach had used police resources to track down the laptop.
After asking the other passengers in the car to exit the vehicle, Kovach then violently pulled his daughter out and put her in the back of his police vehicle.
During all this, Kovach also ignored an emergency call he received about a nearby incident.
According to The Chronicle-Telegram, Coleman told police that Kovach had called him on the phone the week before and threatened to take out warrants against him.
“These actions are not acceptable for members of our Police Department and we felt it warranted immediate dismissal,” Safety-Service Director Dan Given.
The Police Department’s union is appealing the decision. You can watch the video of the incident below: