Cops sue city and police chief

YOUNGSTOWN -- Two city police officers, cleared in January of robbery charges, are suing the city and former Police Chief Richard Lewis.
Christopher Lombard and Mark Rakocy are seeking unspecified damages in the suit, filed Friday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The suit accuses Lewis of defamation and selective prosecution.
Lewis retired earlier this year and could not be reached to comment.
Lombard and Rakocy were arrested by other city officers in April 2001, accused of assaulting and robbing Thomas Cole of Struthers in the restroom of the Pulse bar on Market Street while they were off-duty in March 2001.
A jury in common pleas court found them both innocent in January.
The suit says Lewis defamed the officers in April 2001 when he made comments to the local media indicating that they were guilty, instead of saying simply that they were charged with a crime.
It also says Lombard and Rakocy were singled out for prosecution while officers who committed serious offenses were not. The suit gave no examples of offenses.
The case is assigned to Judge R. Scott Krichbaum.