- Staff Report. Daniel Lajack, a former Portage County Sheriff's deputy who retired Sept. 28, 2025 was three months in jail for detaining an immigrant he thought was in the U.S. illegally, reports the Akron Beacon Journal.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. A woman arrested by Portage County deputies March 10 following an all-night manhunt has been deported, according to a jail official in Mahoning County, where she was being held.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. The Portage County Sheriff’s Office announced March 16 that a person who had been incarcerated at the county jail had died the previous day.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. After an all-night search that began March 9, Portage County sheriff’s deputies detained a 33-year-old woman they claimed is in the country illegally and will turn her over to Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. A corrections officer employed at the Portage County Jail found himself indicted for a second time March 9, this time in Portage County Common Pleas Court.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. The Portage County Sheriff’s Office was named as a defendant in five federal court cases in 2025, the highest number in a single year during Bruce Zuchowski’s tenure, according to a Portager examination of court records.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. A Portage County corrections officer faces two felony charges of sexual extortion, but the sheriff’s office isn’t naming names.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. A Portage County Sheriff’s deputy pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge of attempted abduction related to an April 2024 altercation outside a Hinckley bar.
- Wendy DiAlesandro. The Portager reported on Jan. 26 that the Village of Hiram was paying Mantua police $100 a day to handle its police dispatch needs until a more permanent contract could be finalized with another provider.
A Portage County Sheriff’s deputy has sued his department in federal court, claiming he was subject to retaliation when he requested tens of thousands of dollars in overtime pay.
Unless a settlement can be reached, a federal lawsuit pitting a Palmyra man against the Portage County sheriff and two sheriff’s office deputies may be headed for jury trial.
In the first six months of a new Portage County Jail transportation program, 173 people recently released from the jail have taken advantage of free rides to a PARTA hub, personally accompanied by a social worker offering help with employment and housing.
A Palmyra resident filed a federal lawsuit against Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski last month alleging the sheriff and his subordinates retaliated against him for creating a social media page critical of the sheriff’s office.
Many questions remain about the recently signed agreement between the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) that empowers deputies to enforce federal immigration law.
An August 2023 traffic stop landed two Ravenna men in jail on felony drug charges. The charges were eventually dropped when the alleged cocaine in the car they had occupied turned out to be carpet cleaner, and the two men filed suit in federal court, claiming Portage County Sheriff Bruce D. Zuchowski and three deputies violated their civil rights.
The Portage County Sheriff’s Office last week issued a news release stating its officers would receive training by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, to enforce immigration law.
About 30 people — and counting — have been spared the walk along Infirmary Road since Emerald Transportation started twice daily runs about a month ago.
Village of Mantua Police Officer Miranda Brothers is suing Portage County Sheriff Bruce Zuchowski and the Portage County Sheriff’s Office, alleging malicious prosecution, violation of her constitutional right “to parent her child,” removing her child and prosecuting her without probable cause.