Family sues Cleveland police officers, claims teen son with Down syndrome was attacked

Juan Ortiz was 16 when Cleveland police officers mistook him for a neighborhood robber. In a federal civil rights lawsuit filed Monday, Juan and his parents accuse Patrolman Brian Kazimer of using excessive force on the teen and Patrolman Dan Crisan of allowing it to happen.

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- In recent months, Cleveland police officers have been accused of attacking a state prison guard, using a stun gun on a suspect who had surrendered peacefully and beating a mentally ill man after a high-speed car chase. Now they're being accused of roughing up a teenager with Down syndrome.

In a civil rights lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court, Ramon Ortiz and Alma Perez say Patrolman Brian Kazimer used excessive force on their son, Juan Ortiz, after mistaking him last summer for a neighborhood robber. Also named in the suit is Patrolman Dan Crisan, whom Juan's parents say observed Kazimer's "unconstitutional" actions but failed to intervene.

"There's simply no conceivable excuse for brutalizing a child with Down syndrome," said attorney Subodh Chandra, who is representing Juan and his parents in the lawsuit. "The family is very distressed. They watched their sweet child, who is as innocent can be, viciously attacked by police officers even as they were trying to explain that their child has Down syndrome."

Neither officer could be reached Monday, and a lawyer for the union representing them did not return a telephone call. Andrea Taylor, the press secretary for Mayor Frank Jackson, said that city officials needed time to fully review the complaint and would not comment on it.

Kazimer and Crisan encountered Juan, then 16, while on a robbery call last August near Lorain Avenue and West 143rd Street. A man had reported his wallet stolen, and one of the suspects was described as wearing a red T-shirt and jeans, according to city records Chandra obtained.

At a nearby apartment complex, Crisan and Kazimer spotted Juan, who was wearing a red T-shirt and jeans. The officers reported that Juan fled when he saw their cruiser approach.

"After a brief foot pursuit, male was caught and detained briefly until it was determined that he had no involvement," Kazimer noted in an initial field report he submitted after the incident. The report did not indicate a struggle with Juan.

In the lawsuit, Juan's parents contend their son looked nothing like the suspects. They say Juan, of Puerto Rican descent, was 4-foot-11 and weighed 118 pounds at the time. The two men ultimately arrested on suspicion of aggravated robbery were white, records show. One was 5-foot-10, the other 6 foot, and both were several years older and much heavier than Juan.

Ortiz and Perez assert that Crisan and Kazimer pulled into the family's apartment complex and began shouting at Juan, "who neither understands nor speaks English well." Ortiz and Perez say their son was scared and ran toward his parents, with the two officers in pursuit.

"Catching up with the fleeing child, Defendant Kazimer tackled and slammed Juan into his father's car," the suit states. "Defendant Kazimer used his weight to pin Juan against the car."

Ortiz told the officers his son has Down syndrome and pleaded that they let Juan go, according to the suit. And when Perez tried to intervene, Kazimer shoved her away. Juan's parents also say that after they continued to explain their son's mental disability, Kazimer responded with: "You're lucky we didn't shoot him," then ordered Ortiz to "shut the f--- up."

Juan suffered severe anxiety, chest pain and bruising after the incident. He also was treated for an abscess near his groin that his parents blame on his being pinned against a hot car.

Emotional problems linger for Juan. "If he sees a police officer, he has particular trouble sleeping that night," according to the suit, which seeks unspecified compensation.

A day after the incident, Ortiz filed a complaint with the city's Office of Professional Standards, which investigates police misconduct. Kazimer and Crisan both denied wrongdoing in written statements they were ordered to submit to the agency. Crisan said Ortiz was belligerent.

"I never heard anyone tell Mr. Ortiz to shut the f--- up," Crisan wrote. "I never heard anyone tell Mr. Ortiz, 'You're lucky we didn't shoot him.' Mr. Ortiz and his son were treated professionally at all times and not like an animal as Mr. Ortiz states in his complaint."

Both officers said Ortiz refused to seek emergency medical care for Juan.

After a subsequent review of the case, the Police Review Board "sustained" Ortiz' complaint and recommended that Chief Michael McGrath order discipline, records show. Sgt. Sammy Morris, a police spokesman, said the matter is pending.

The lawsuit from Ortiz and Perez is the latest brutality claim against Cleveland police. Civil-rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Ohio, have repeatedly called for the U.S. Department of Justice to launch a full review of police practices here.

Federal investigators already are looking at a New Year's Day incident involving Edward Henderson of Cleveland Heights. Police say Henderson led them on a high-speed chase after nearly striking two officers who had stopped another motorist for a traffic offense. Henderson, who suffers from mental illness, says officers beat and injured him after they arrested him following a crash.

Four officers had been charged with felonious assault in the case, but the charges were dismissed from Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court to allow time for the federal probe.

Original report here




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