A white cop in Lorain, Ohio, has been fired for illegally pulling over a Black teen and threatening to throw him in jail for dating his daughter.
In the dashcam footage, John Kovach Jr. is seen pulling over 18-year-old Makai Coleman, throwing open his door and declaring: “You are going to jail.”
When the teen asks why, Kovach responds, “You’re going to jail. Have a seat in my car. We’ll make shit up as we go.”
Meanwhile, Gloria Morales, a neighbor who comes out of her home after seeing the stop and whose two children were also in the car being pulled over, starts to argue with Kovach, who then threatens to (illegally) search her home. After she does not comply, he follows up that threat with another, saying he would give her daughter, seated in the passenger side, a $300 ticket for not wearing her seatbelt.
Eventually, Kovach’s motive for his actions becomes clear as he is seen checking the car for more passengers and finally spots his daughter in the backseat.
“Get in my car,” he is heard shouting at his daughter, who exits the car and makes her way to the police vehicle.
“Why are you taking me?” his daughter questions, refusing to get into the police car.
Kovach instructs Coleman to get out of his police car and leave, but the teen instead goes to his car and grabs his cellphone. Meanwhile, additional video captured inside of the police car shows the Kovach’s daughter crying hysterically, as her father forces her to get in.
After an internal investigation, the Lorain Police Department has terminated Kovach, calling his actions “gross misconduct” and “an abuse of police authority.” But it may not be the last we hear of him: He’s fighting the termination by claiming the city violated his rights by firing him.
All of which is quite ironic, considering he trampled over the rights of a number of people while committing his illegal stop.
