Toledoan charged with false police brutality report

8/18/2013
BLADE STAFF

Police have charged a Toledo man with falsification, alleging that he fabricated a story about police brutality.

Eldwin Ottrix, Jr., 30, of 1006 Norwood Ave. was not in custody as of Friday evening.

The suspect claimed that, on July 22, he was put into the back of a marked Toledo police cruiser, driven to an alley, and beaten, police Sgt. Joe Heffernan said.

“We initiated an investigation right off the bat,” the sergeant said.

“That’s a hugely serious allegation. ... The chief had internal affairs investigators come in on their days off and they spent a huge amount of time investigating everything.”

Sergeant Heffernan said investigators looked at in-car camera footage, phone records, and other video cameras near where the suspect said the assault occurred.

Eventually investigators obtained video “from a private source” of the date, time, and location where the alleged assault occurred and did not see anything, the sergeant said.

Police claimed the suspect never came into contact with officers.