bearkat42
Well-Known Member
On Aug. 28, 2004, Chicago Police Officer Scott Korhonen did something truly heinous to a young man named Coprez Coffie. Just 20 years old at the time, Coffie was spotted by Korhonen and his partner in what they claimed was a drug deal. Coffie, who was employed as a security guard at a local hotel, was then driven to an alley, handcuffed and strip-searched with his pants down. During the strip search, Korhonen got a screwdriver and jammed it deep into the rectum of Coffie — causing internal injuries to Coffie.
Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, that is not simply inappropriate, it is as illegal as it gets. Chicago Police Officer Scott Korhonen sexually assaulted Coprez Coffie. Coffie reported the injuries when they took him to the police station and immediately reported the injuries at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital that same day. The man was literally bleeding from his rectum.
As you could imagine, Coprez Coffie refused to simply accept what happened to him. For the next three years he fought like hell to prove that he was brutalized and assaulted by Korhonen. At first, Coffie and his attorneys fought for the case to go to trial and filed several motions before judges requesting his day in court. In the meantime, the Chicago Police Department stonewalled and refused to even discipline Officer Korhonen or his partner, Officer Gerald Lodwich, who stood by and did nothing when the assault took place.
Finally, on Oct. 17, 2007 a civil jury found Officers Korhonen and Lodwichguilty of the “unreasonable search” and ordered the City of Chicago to pay Coffie a $4 million settlement plus nearly $675,000 for his legal fees. In the process of the investigation, it was determined that not only did the officers have screwdrivers in the glove compartment of their car, but that human fecal matter was found in the glove compartment as well. The injuries to Mr. Coffie’s rectum were also confirmed and documented.
Still, this was not good enough Coffie. It shouldn’t have been. These men deserved to go to jail for what they did. Anybody who did what they did should go to jail. So, Coffie continued to push for a new trial. The following year, in a preliminary ruling, look at what District Court Judge James Holderman said:
“Considering all the evidence, which is now conceded by the defense to be sufficient to support the jury's verdict for the plaintiff, including the circumstantial evidence, which strongly supports the jury's verdict for Coffie, this was a clear case. The evidence established by a preponderance of the evidence each of Coffie's claims that Korhonen unreasonably inserted a screwdriver in Coffie' rectum in violation of Coffie's constitutional rights and that Lodwich knowingly failed to stop Korhonen's unconstitutional conduct. In addition, the evidence clearly showed that Korhonen and Lodwich each knowingly testified falsely at the trial.”
Officers Scott Korhonen and Gerald Lodwich are still employed by the Chicago Police Department to this very day. Lodwich made $90,618 last year as an officer. The rapist Scott Korhonen made $87,384.
These men not only avoided jail time, they kept their jobs in law enforcement — in spite of costing the city nearly $5 million and multiple independent investigations finding that they were guilty of several felonies.
This is unthinkable. It is criminal. It is indicative of every single thing that is wrong with policing in America. These men should be fired immediately. No doubt the statute of limitations may have passed for their crimes, but they must never be in law enforcement again.
Every officer and superior who covered for these men should also be fired. All of this is criminal.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/2-cops-sodomized-man-screwdriver-working-article-1.2820609
Yes, you read that correctly. Yes, that is not simply inappropriate, it is as illegal as it gets. Chicago Police Officer Scott Korhonen sexually assaulted Coprez Coffie. Coffie reported the injuries when they took him to the police station and immediately reported the injuries at St. Mary of Nazareth Hospital that same day. The man was literally bleeding from his rectum.
As you could imagine, Coprez Coffie refused to simply accept what happened to him. For the next three years he fought like hell to prove that he was brutalized and assaulted by Korhonen. At first, Coffie and his attorneys fought for the case to go to trial and filed several motions before judges requesting his day in court. In the meantime, the Chicago Police Department stonewalled and refused to even discipline Officer Korhonen or his partner, Officer Gerald Lodwich, who stood by and did nothing when the assault took place.
Finally, on Oct. 17, 2007 a civil jury found Officers Korhonen and Lodwichguilty of the “unreasonable search” and ordered the City of Chicago to pay Coffie a $4 million settlement plus nearly $675,000 for his legal fees. In the process of the investigation, it was determined that not only did the officers have screwdrivers in the glove compartment of their car, but that human fecal matter was found in the glove compartment as well. The injuries to Mr. Coffie’s rectum were also confirmed and documented.
Still, this was not good enough Coffie. It shouldn’t have been. These men deserved to go to jail for what they did. Anybody who did what they did should go to jail. So, Coffie continued to push for a new trial. The following year, in a preliminary ruling, look at what District Court Judge James Holderman said:
“Considering all the evidence, which is now conceded by the defense to be sufficient to support the jury's verdict for the plaintiff, including the circumstantial evidence, which strongly supports the jury's verdict for Coffie, this was a clear case. The evidence established by a preponderance of the evidence each of Coffie's claims that Korhonen unreasonably inserted a screwdriver in Coffie' rectum in violation of Coffie's constitutional rights and that Lodwich knowingly failed to stop Korhonen's unconstitutional conduct. In addition, the evidence clearly showed that Korhonen and Lodwich each knowingly testified falsely at the trial.”
Officers Scott Korhonen and Gerald Lodwich are still employed by the Chicago Police Department to this very day. Lodwich made $90,618 last year as an officer. The rapist Scott Korhonen made $87,384.
These men not only avoided jail time, they kept their jobs in law enforcement — in spite of costing the city nearly $5 million and multiple independent investigations finding that they were guilty of several felonies.
This is unthinkable. It is criminal. It is indicative of every single thing that is wrong with policing in America. These men should be fired immediately. No doubt the statute of limitations may have passed for their crimes, but they must never be in law enforcement again.
Every officer and superior who covered for these men should also be fired. All of this is criminal.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/2-cops-sodomized-man-screwdriver-working-article-1.2820609
