HINCKLEY, OH — Two off-duty federal task force members are facing criminal charges connected to an April 2024 incident at a Hinckley bar.
A Medina County grand jury indicted Dan Lajack and Donald Kopchak on felony abduction, ethnic intimidation and misdemeanor assault charges.
The pair is accused of illegally detaining a truck driver outside Buzzard’s Roost Tavern because they worried the man was in the country illegally and could be a terrorist, according to police body camera video.
According to the recordings, officers called to a disturbance at the bar, arrived, and found a man being held on the ground outside the bar.
“I have you in a leg lock,” Kopchak is heard telling the man. “You’re not getting out anyways.”
“I’m legal,” the man being held said.
The man on the ground told police he was a truck driver originally from the African country of Eritrea, but now living in Texas.
He explained to officers he was in town making a delivery.
On the recordings, the man told police he was inside the bar when two men began questioning him about his origin.
He told officers the men then grabbed him, took his phone and wallet and forced him outside.
Investigators said the two men involved were both law enforcement officers. Kopchak is a Cleveland police officer who was assigned to an ATF task force at the time.
Lajack worked for the Lake County Narcotics Agency, assigned to a DEA task force when the incident occurred.
According to police, the pair said they believed the man was in the United States illegally.
Lajack told officers he wanted to make sure the man was not on “some watchlist.”
“I'm not going to be the guy on the f*****g news that said ‘Oh, I just walked away and this guy blows up the f*****g Strongsville mall tomorrow,” Lajack said on the recording. “No! Sorry!”
But responding officers said the trucker had a valid Texas driver’s license. The man told police he was an American citizen.
Lajack resigned from the Lake County Narcotics Agency while facing disciplinary action last December. He was then hired by the Portage County Sheriff’s Office.
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Kopchak was pulled off the federal task force following the incident.
On Thursday, Cleveland police placed him on unpaid leave following his indictment.
Both men are scheduled to be in court to face the charges next month.
