MAHONING COUNTY Arbiter: Lift suspension for Youngstown policeman

An arbiter also ruled that a cop didn't have to use sick days for an injury.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- An arbiter has ordered that Patrolman James Welch III's five-day suspension be lifted, concluding the officer did not use excessive force during an arrest.
Welch, 32, and Patrolman Frank Bigowsky, 29, were both suspended in May after an investigation by the Internal Affairs Division. In August, Bigowsky won his grievance and return of lost pay when an arbiter ruled that he did not use excessive force.
Welch's pay loss was about $860; Bigowsky's was around $750.
"Again, like with Bigowsky, we're extremely pleased. We know we have to work within the scope of the use of force policy," Patrolman Kevin Bokesch, Youngstown Police Association president, said Wednesday. Welch "did what he did to place the perpetrator under arrest and the arbiter said there was no excessive use of force."
About the case
On Jan. 24, officers assigned to the Street Crimes Unit attempted to stop a car in the Glenwood Avenue area on the South Side. The driver failed to stop and police pursued the car to the North Side, near Seneca Avenue, where the driver and a passenger jumped out and ran in opposite directions. The driver got away.
Patrolmen Doug Pesa and Frank Rutherford caught up with the passenger, Marcus Kennon, 29, of Clyde Street, and forced him to the ground.
Kennon kicked Pesa and refused to remove his hands from under his body so that he could be handcuffed. Pesa tried to control Kennon's left arm and Rutherford concentrated on gaining control of Kennon's right arm.
Welch and Bigowsky arrived to assist.
Bigowsky, seeing the struggle, kicked Kennon "two to four times in the left arm and abdomen to encourage him to remove his arms from under his body," the arbiter wrote in his report.
The arbiter's report shows that, in the expert's view, kicking was appropriate and Bigowsky could have use more force, such as his baton or "sleeper holds." That he did not showed restraint, the report said.
Records show that Welch used a closed fist to strike Kennon numerous times in the head and face area. A detective arrived and told Bigowsky and Welch to "knock it off," and they stopped.
The arbiter in Welch's case said he used an acceptable technique as he had been trained to do in such situations.
The complaint against Welch and Bigowsky was filed by a relative of Kennon's.
Ruling on sick days
In an unrelated matter, an arbiter ruled that the city should not have made Patrolman Paul Brown, a member of the Vice Squad, use up his accumulated sick days for a neck injury he suffered during a training exercise in October 2000.
Brown didn't miss any work until he had surgery June 10, 2003. He has been off work since then.
After the surgery, he should have been placed on injured-on-duty status, the arbiter determined. The city had reasoned that IOD pay was 365 days within an 18-month period from the time of the injury and, since the injury occurred in 2000, Brown wasn't eligible.
The arbiter ordered that the city reimburse Brown 1,340 sick hours, which is the amount he had accumulated over the years, having never missed a day of work. Brown was hired in 1991.
meade@vindy.com