‘These Guys are Drunk’: Ohio Police Refuse to Arrest Wasted Off-Duty Cops Who Attacked Black Truck Driver, Accusing Him of Being a Terrorist
Two off-duty cops were drunk at a bar when they physically accosted an African man they believed to be a terrorist living in the country illegally – grabbing him by his wrists and forcing him out of the bar, where they threw him to the ground and sat on top of him until police arrived. But the man they attacked was a legal American citizen and refugee from Eritrea who was working as a commercial truck driver and doing nothing more than minding his own business at the Buzzards Roost bar in Hinckley, Ohio. However, eight months after the incident, neither cop has been arrested or charged for the illegal detainment. Body camera video shows cops detaining Yonas Bokredingi in Hinckley, Ohio. (Photo: YouTube/Audit the Audit) But one of the cops, Daniel Lajack, resigned earlier this month from the Lake County Narcotics Agency after being notified of “potential disciplinary action” against him, according to WKYC. The other cop, Donald Kopchak, who remains employed by the Cleveland Police Department, was suspended for one day in 2020 for rubbing a warrant in the face of a suspect. At the time of the assault, both cops were part of federal task forces, including the Drug Enforcement Administration and Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, but were removed shortly after the incident. The case is still being investigated by the FBI, which has provided no updates even though it should be a clear-cut case of false imprisonment and assault and battery if not more serious charges. Multiple body camera videos from responding Hinckley and Brunswick police officers reveal the two assailant cops believed they were keeping the community safe by attacking the truck driver. Lajack was especially concerned about being portrayed negatively in the media. “I’m not going to be the guy in the news, ‘Oh, this guy’s on a security cam; this guy ends up blowing the mall up tomorrow,’” Lajack said. “I'm making sure that this guy is not on some watch list,” Lajack also said. “Then all of a sudden we’re on TMZ, ‘oh, these ATF and DEA guys are letting him off.’” But the man they attacked, Yonas Bokredingil, told responding officers he tried to call police, but the two assailants snatched his phone and wallet from him. “I’m legal, I’m a U.S. citizen,” he told a responding officer.
