A Black Akron police officer, who was previously acquitted of theft allegations brought by senior officers, filed a lawsuit in January against the Akron Police Department for civil rights violations after alleged retaliation when he complained of racial discrimination.
Akron Patrol Officer Deandre Holland, who joined the police department in March 2018, was indicted in May 2021 on charges of theft, forgery and tampering. He was later acquitted.
Now, Holland is suing the city, Lieutenant Richard Kuznik, Captain Christopher Brown and four unnamed officers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio for at least $75,000 in compensation, along with punitive damages.
The allegations include unreasonable seizure, malicious prosecution, retaliation and racial discrimination.
According to court documents, the unnamed officers are APD officers who “conspired with Kuznik and Brown to institute a malicious and retaliatory prosecution against Holland.”
The City of Akron declined to comment on the pending litigation. Holland’s lawyer, Peter Pattakos, also declined to comment.
According to court documents, in August 2020 Holland alerted his union representative to discriminatory treatment against Black officers at the hands of his superior, Kuznik,. The union representative said he would speak to Kuznik in hopes of not escalating the situation to the point of a formal grievance.
After the communication from Holland’s union representative, Kuznik began “communicating with [Holland] in an increasingly hostile and demeaning manner” and denied Holland’s scheduling requests, according to court documents.
The lawsuit also notes that “only three of approximately 75 sergeants, only one out of approximately 21 lieutenants, and only one out of approximately eight captains in the Akron Police Department are Black or African American.”
Reuse of formatted ‘drill letter’ at issue
In addition to his role at APD, Holland is a member of the Ohio Army National Guard. As part of his participation in the National Guard, Holland is required to attend scheduled drills and training.
Holland regularly submitted notices of the training without issue, according to the lawsuit.
But on Dec. 25, 2020, after Holland submitted a last-minute notice that he would be attending drills and training from Dec. 28, 2020, to Jan. 1, 2021, Kuznik and Brown launched an investigation that found Holland was forging his notices to receive more time off during the holiday, along with supplemental pay, while not performing drill.
Holland was given permission by Ohio National Guard Sergeant Bradley Hoffman to use a formatted “drill letter” to give his superiors notice of his training schedule. Holland was permitted, as needed, to modify the letter to reflect new drill dates.
But in her ruling acquitting Holland of the criminal charges, on May 12, 2022, Judge Patricia Cosgrove noted that Holland continued to use the template after Hoffman left the 145th guard division. Hoffman assumed Holland “would know that he couldn’t use that template from that point on,” Cosgrove stated.
Kuznik and Brown visited the armory Dec. 29 and received confirmation from Hoffman that the notice was not forged. They also saw Holland in attendance at drill but continued with the criminal investigation.
Holland was acquitted of all felony charges on the first day of his bench trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court.
Cosgrove stated in her ruling that “if this is a theft offense and if he intended to commit an offense, this is the most loosey-goosey theft I have ever seen in my 30 years as a judge.”
But Cosgrove was also sympathetic to the Akron Police Department, noting, “That doesn’t mean that the defendant didn’t act inappropriately, but that is not my bailiwick. I think waiting until the last minute to tell the Akron Police Department, especially over the holidays, you know: I’m not going to be there this day — “
No hearings have been scheduled, but a case management conference is scheduled for April 9.
