19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|Breaking News, Weather, ExclusivesWoman Accuses Ex-Patrolman of Excessive Force In Federal Lawsuit

Woman Accuses Ex-Patrolman of Excessive Force In Federal Lawsuit

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (AP) - A woman who claims she was wrongfully arrested and the victim of excessive police force has filed a federal lawsuit against the Warren police department, several of the city's officers and a former patrolman who is the subject of another lawsuit in a separate case.

Yalanda Dukes, 29, alleges that Patrolman Richard Kovach struck her with a retractable police wand, causing her head to bleed during a May 12 arrest outside a Warren bar.

Dukes, of East Liverpool, was arrested on assault and resisting arrest charges. The charges were dismissed in September, said her attorney, Gilbert Rucker III of Warren.

An internal police investigation into Dukes' arrest cleared Kovach and said that force was justified in the arrest, Rucker said.

Dukes' lawsuit, filed on Friday, says the city failed to properly train, supervise and discipline its officers regarding arrest procedures.

Warren Law Director Gregory Hicks said Friday he couldn't comment because hadn't seen the lawsuit.

In a separate matter, Kovach was given a 60-day suspension in November over his use of a stun gun in September on a handcuffed woman outside a bar. He was fired a month later for lying to investigators reviewing his conduct during an unrelated Aug. 23 traffic stop.

In that incident, a driver claimed he was surrounded by nearly a dozen officers with their guns drawn, ordered to the ground and stepped on and had his wallet removed from his pocket.

Rucker is also representing Timothy Brown II of Warren, the driver in the traffic stop, in a federal lawsuit filed in December against Kovach and the Warren police department.