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'I was scared for his life': Family of suspect speaks out after Cleveland Police suspensions

The family of JoNathan Luton is also considering taking legal action against the police department because they believed the use of force was "excessive."

Three Cleveland police officers have been suspended without pay for lying and covering up their use of force on a domestic violence suspect, according to a press release.

4-year veteran Steven Fedorko was suspended for 30 days, 7-year veteran Joseph Tylka was suspended for 12 days and 4-year veteran Lewis Stevens was suspended for 8 days.

The suspensions are effective immediately.

The officers were disciplined for their role in a March 4, 2017 incident, involving JoNathan Luton, 33, who was reportedly threatening to kill his mother and breaking car windows on Cleveland’s east side.

According to the police report, the officers said Luton had a gun and was non-compliant. He was later tased, but it had no effect on him. Luton then went inside the house. The officers followed him inside and a brief scuffle ensued.

The report when on to state during the scuffle, Luton kicked Officer Fedorko and broke his toe.

An Internal Affairs investigation found that was not true, along with failing to mention more information about the incident. The police report said the officers failed to mention Officer Fedorko’s use of a leg lock to restrain Luton, a move that is in violation of the department’s policy. It also states the officers violated Luton’s constitutional rights after falsely accusing him of felonious assault.

Luton’s charges were eventually dropped.

His mother spoke exclusively to WKYC about the officer’s suspension and also claims her son threatened to kill her.

"No he never said that,” Becky Luton said. “He said somebody wanted to kill us.”

She said her son has a mental illness and was off his meds the day officers responded to the domestic violence call. She said reports that he had a gun were untrue.

“He didn’t have a gun,” she said. “He didn’t have anything on him."

President of the Cleveland Police Patrolman’s Association, Jeff Follmer, believes the punishment for Officer Fedorko was too “harsh” and believes the city is “blowing things out of proportion." He believes unreleased video will prove that.

"This is an incident taken personal by certain individuals by the police department,” Follmer said. "Anybody that knows about adrenaline and working you don’t remember everything that you did.”

He added: “These guys were in a fight for their life.”

Luton’s family said the past year has been stressful, but are glad the truth finally came to light.

"I was scared for his life,” Luton’s mom said. "It was a big bunch of mess to me it was not fair.”

The family is also considering taking legal action against the police department because they believed the use of force was “excessive."

Officer Fedorko was given a longer suspension because after the Luton incident, he violated a number of department policies, according to city records.

The investigation found he initiated a high speed chase without permission. In addition, he provided information to the media and also posted memes of a co-worker.

He is also being investigating for shooting and killing a man in October 2017.

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