Monday, December 29, 2003
The county prosecutor says falsification or perjury charges could be filed.
By BOB JACKSONand PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITERS
YOUNGSTOWN -- Thomas Cole Jr., who swore under oath that he was robbed in a bar men's room by two off-duty Youngstown Police Department patrolmen in March 2001, now alleges he was "forced" by the YPD Internal Affairs Division to make that allegation.
Cole's sworn affidavit states that he told IAD investigators he lost his money and gold chain at the bar and didn't remember much from the night because he was drunk. The Struthers man now says that neither of the officers he accused -- Mark Rakocy and Christopher Lombard -- committed any crime against him.
"I stand 100 percent behind the IAD investigation," Police Chief Robert E. Bush Jr. said Friday. "I heard Cole tell his story to IAD when I was law director and he was credible then. There's no doubt in my mind that he related truthful events."
Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul J. Gains agreed, and said if authorities were not convinced of Cole's credibility from the beginning they would not have sought criminal indictments against the police officers.
"I believed every word he said," Gains said of Cole's original story. "If any of us had any doubt about what happened, we would never have gone forward. There was absolutely no doubt."
Gains pointed out that Cole's original story was corroborated by independent witnesses, who knew neither the policemen nor Cole.
Acquitted at trial
Based on Cole's original complaint, Rakocy and Lombard were indicted and charged with robbery. In January 2002, a Mahoning County Common Pleas Court jury acquitted both men. Cole had testified against them at trial.
Bush said the jury believed "something happened in that restroom but that robbery couldn't be proved beyond a reasonable doubt."
The city later fired Rakocy and Lombard, who then appealed. Rakocy won his job back, Lombard did not.
Rakocy and Lombard have since alleged selective prosecution and seek damages from Youngstown in a civil lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court. This month, Rakocy and Lombard's Warren lawyer, Sarah Kovoor, added Cole's affidavit to the case, which has been pending since July 2002.
Bush said he and Gains sent a letter to the FBI, asking for an independent review of the IAD investigation. The chief said he's confident that IAD acted appropriately.
Gains said if the FBI declines to investigate, he'll ask the Ohio Bureau of Identification and Investigation to do it. Once an independent investigation is completed, he'll decide what to do next.
Could face charges
Gains said he "strongly suspects" that Cole's original story about being rousted and robbed by the policemen is the truth, but if Cole ends up sticking to his latest version, criminal charges will be forthcoming.
"It's going to be looked at and appropriate action taken," Gains said, noting that Cole could face charges of perjury or falsification.
In Cole's sworn affidavit, he says that he decided to come forward at this time "in order to right this wrong, and I have not been compensated in any way to do so."
Cole, when reached Friday, declined to elaborate on why he decided to change his story, referring questions to his attorney, Joseph Rafidi.
Neither Rafidi nor Kovoor could be reached to comment.
During the trial of Lombard and Rakocy, Cole sat on the witness stand and told jurors that the officers roughed him up and robbed him. Gains said he repeatedly told the same story to authorities who investigated the matter before it went to trial.
"The problem is that you don't know what the truth is now with this guy," Gains said. "He either lied at trial or he's lying in this [affidavit]."
The city's lawyer, Neil D. Schor, has asked U.S. District Judge Peter C. Economus to strike Cole's affidavit. Schor said the deadline for evidence was last August. Schor noted that Cole also failed to appear for his deposition in July.
bjackson@vindy.commeade@vindy.com