Officer pleads guilty for incident at Medina bar with man he thought was undocumented
MEDINA COUNTY, Ohio (WOIO) - One of two Northeast Ohio law enforcement officers indicted for unlawfully detaining a man they thought was in the country illegally, pleaded guilty in Medina County Court of Common Pleas Monday.
Portage County Deputy Daniel LaJack pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of attempted abduction.
LaJack will be sentenced on March 26.
His co-defendant is Cleveland Police Detective Donald Kopchak.
Kopchak is charged with two counts of abduction, ethnic intimidation, and assault.
His trial was scheduled to begin Monday, but it was continued and there is no new court date.
Kopchak was also on the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) task force at the time.
The charges stem from an incident that happened around 11:50 p.m. on April 26, 2024 at Buzzard’s Roost Bar in Hinckley Township.
Both men were off-duty when they allegedly confronted a patron and identified themselves as federal law enforcement officers.
The situation escalated when the officer physically restrained and assaulted the victim while removing him from the tavern, according to the release from the Medina County Prosecutor’s Office.
“I’m not gonna be the guy on the news like, oh you’re on a f****ing security cam this guy ends up blowing the f***ing mall up tomorrow f**k no, don’t care,” one of the involved officers said in a Brunswick police body camera video. “Don’t care who I offend, dude.”
Body-camera footage also shows one officer pinning the victim to the ground when Brunswick police arrived on scene.
“This guy’s not from this country,” the Cleveland police officer told the responding officer. “So we started fighting with him or whatever, so here we are, he’s holding him down.”
“Well, regardless of if he’s from this country or not, what happened?” the Brunswick officer asked.
“He’s not from this country,” the CPD officer responded.
Brunswick police said the victim, a 38-year-old refugee from Ethiopia, has been in the United States for 14 years and has a valid commercial driver’s license from Texas.
On Aug. 28, 2025 Cleveland police confirmed Kopchak has been placed on unpaid administrative leave effective immediately, pending the outcome of the legal proceedings.
LaJack resigned from the Lake County Narcotics Agency in December 2024 and was later hired by the Portage County Sheriff’s Office.
We have reached out to the Portage County Sheriff on his current employment status, but have not heard back yet.
The Medina County Prosecutor’s Office added they are communicating with the victim and his family on all developments in the case.
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