YOUNGSTOWN Ex-cop appeals decision denying him back pay

YOUNGSTOWN -- A former city policeman who was denied back pay for time he spent under suspension is appealing to the 7th District Court of Appeals.
Mark Rakocy of Cordova Avenue was fired earlier this year because of criminal charges that had been filed against him last year.
He and Christopher Lombard, also a former city policeman, were accused of roughing up a Struthers man in the restroom of a Youngstown bar.
Both men were suspended from the department while their cases were pending.
They were eventually acquitted after a trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. They were fired, though, after an internal investigation.
They appealed and an arbiter awarded back pay for Lombard but not Rakocy. Neither was reinstated to the department. Rakocy's action in the court of appeals says he should have gotten back pay too because both officers were fired under the same circumstances.