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.
Lajack was off duty and drinking at a Hinckley bar in April 2024 when he and Cleveland police officer Donald Kopchak demanded the victim identify himself and pinned him to the ground outside the bar. The man later told police he immigrated to the U.S. from Eritrea legally and now lives in Texas.
Lajack pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree felony charge of attempted abduction, and prosecutors dropped the other charges— a second abduction charge, one count of ethnic intimidation, a fifth-degree felony, and one count of assault, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The plea deal stipulated that Lajack has agreed to forfeit his peace officer certification. Kopchak was found guilty of all four original charges, and his sentencing is scheduled for June 11.
Staff Report