Northeast Ohio officer accused of illegally detaining man at bar hired by Portage County Sheriff

HINCKLEY TWP., Ohio (WOIO) - Last summer, two local law enforcement officers were accused of illegally detaining a man because they believed he was in the country illegally.

Detroit prosecutors have since taken over the case.

19 Investigates learned that Special Agent Daniel Lajack resigned from the Lake County Narcotics Agency on Dec. 2, two weeks after he received notice of a disciplinary hearing for his involvement in unlawfully restraining a man he and a Cleveland police officer believed to be an illegal immigrant outside of a Lake County bar in April.

Lajack previously worked as a federal task force officer for the Drug Enforcement Agency but was removed from his position in June.

19 News learned that Lajack was hired as a deputy at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office on Dec. 23.

Below is 19 News' previous coverage of the investigation:

19 Investigates obtained documents from Lake County notifying Lajack of his alleged criminal violations which included abduction, assault, disrupting public service, theft, and unlawful restraint but before Lake County could hold the disciplinary hearing Lajack stepped down.

“Had him thrown on the ground here and everything for literally no good reason other than they had a hunch,” said an officer. “They thought that he was from another country and that he was illegal.”

Police say Lajack and Cleveland Police Officer Donald Kopchak were drinking at the Buzzard’s Roost Sports Bar in Hinckley Township on April 26. The pair was off duty when things got heated between them and another man at the bar, who turned out to be a truck driver from Texas.

When Hinckley police arrived at the bar they found the two off-duty officers pinning down the 38-year-old Texas man, accusing him of being “illegal.”

It turns out the man has been in the country for 14 years and immigrated to the United States legally from Africa.

Body camera footage and investigator statements reveal a troubling sequence of events. The officers demanded identification to prove the man’s legal status and subsequently led him outside, where Kopchak pinned him to the ground until Brunswick police arrived.

Kopchak was on the ATF’s task force at the time and has since been removed, but he is still working for Cleveland police while the department investigates. 19 Investigates discovered he is currently on restricted duty and has no contact with the public.

“He showed us, it was a Texas ID, which is clear as day is fake,” said the Cleveland officer. “We’re like okay…”

“It’s not fake, but okay,” responded one of the Hinckley officers.

“It’s not,” said the Cleveland officer.

“It’s not,” said the Hinckley officer.

Hinckley officers called Medina County Prosecutor Forrest Thompson right away.

“I’m not exactly sure what to do here. It’s a very sticky situation,” said an officer who responded. “We are up at Buzzers Roost, and we have a gentleman from a truck driver who was sitting in the corner of the bar, drinking, watching a movie, minding his own business. I have two federal agents and a DEA agent here unannounced went up to the gentleman, put up his hands behind his back, they’ve been drinking, put his hands behind his back, threw him on the ground, took his phone, took his wallet, started stating he’s an illegal immigrant. My guts telling me this is totally wrong as a law enforcement officer.”

19 Investigates got Kopchak’s personnel file and it shows the Cleveland police officer was suspended for one day in 2020 after he rubbed arrest warrant papers in a man’s face.

“They had him in tears like they were gonna break his arm,” said one witness in the video. “It was disgusting.”

We have not been able to get in touch with the victim and we are not identifying him for his own privacy.

“Why they push me like this? Why they try to broke my hand,” said the victim. “I’m trying to call police. All my stuff. They take it out from my pocket.”

The Medina County Prosecutor told us the Cleveland U.S. Attorney’s Office handed the case to the Northern District of Michigan due to a conflict of interest. We have not received any updates on their criminal investigation.