A Lorain police officer was suspended after he had an altercation with the boyfriend of his ex-girlfriend and mother of his son as he was responding to a call.
Officer Christopher Ferenzi was responding to a call in the 700 block of East Erie Avenue after a woman was being assaulted by her boyfriend Jared Brillon and was heard screaming for help, according to a Tuesday Lorain police news release.
The location was familiar to Ferenzi because he had recently dropped off his son there to visit the woman who was screaming for help. The child is the son of Ferenzi and the woman.
During the altercation between Brillon and the woman two men who were walking by attempted to intervene before any officers' arrived. Brillon stabbed one of the men repeatedly in the stomach.
Once Ferenzi arrived, he was noticeably upset, police said. Ferenzi confronted Brillon in the back of a police cruiser, where he had been placed after being handcuffed and arrested for stabbing the man. Ferenzi cursed at Brillon and pointed his flashlight in Brillon's face several times. Ferenzi did hit Brillon with a flashlight, but didn't hurt him, police said.
Brillon did not report any injuries during his encounter with Ferenzi or file a complaint.
Ferenzi, an eight year veteran, was suspended for 10 days without pay on Tuesday.
"While it may be understandable that Officer Ferenzi was upset regarding the presence of his son during an extremely violent confrontation , it does not excuse his actions during this incident. They represent a clear departure from established policy and cannot be tolerated," the police department said in the release.
