Trooper gets jail sentence for punching handcuffed suspect

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Updated 10:05 am, Friday, June 8, 2018

WEST CHESTER, Pa. (AP) — A Pennsylvania state trooper convicted of punching a handcuffed man during a drunken-driving arrest has been sentenced to up to a year in jail.

John Sromovsky was captured on video punching 25-year-old Lorenzo Lopez in September 2016, while Lopez was handcuffed and seated in a patrol car.

Prosecutors say Lopez had been crying, and Sromovsky threatened to give him "a reason to cry." They say Lopez was defenseless and didn't pose a threat.

Sromovsky was convicted of assault last month. He was sentenced Thursday to 2½ to 12 months in jail.

Read more: https://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Trooper-gets-jail-sentence-for-punching-12978550.php

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Pa. state trooper gets jail time for punching DUI suspect
Updated: JUNE 7, 2018 — 9:08 PM EDT

http://media.philly.com/images/1200*800/dixon-552533-f-wp-content-uploads-2018-06-1182862_26d279474b73b69-1-e1528411601315-1200x800.jpg

 BOB WILLIAMS
Pennsylvania State Trooper John Sromovsky, left, leaves the Chester County Justice Center in West Chester with an unidentified supporter after he was sentenced to up to a year in jail on Thursday, June 7, 2018.


by Mensah M. Dean, Staff Writer @mensahdean | [e-mail]

Pennsylvania State Trooper John Robert Sromovsky was a bully looking for a fight on Sept. 9, 2016, when he taunted, cursed at, and repeatedly punched a crying man who was handcuffed and belted into his seat in a patrol car, according to the Chester County District Attorney’s Office.

The unprovoked beating of Lorenzo Lopez, 25, an undocumented immigrant from Mexico who was being arrested for DUI, was not the first time Sromovsky had roughed up a citizen while on duty — but it was the last time. The 11-year State Police veteran was sentenced Thursday in Chester County Court to 2½ to 12 months in the county Prison for his conviction by a jury last month of simple assault.

Sromovsky, 35, of Upper Chichester, Delaware County, was to be officially fired at midnight, a State Police spokesman said. He did not apologize to his victim, but thanked Judge Thomas G. Gavin for his time.

After the hearing in West Chester, the bespectacled Sromovsky was photographed before he had a chance to hold his suit jacket over his head to hide from a news photographer’s flash. “Get that thing out of his face,” shouted an older man who had accompanied him to court.

More:
http://www.philly.com/philly/news/crime/pa-state-trooper-john-sromovsky-jail-sentence-chester-county-court-punching-dui-lorenzo-lopez-20180607.html

[Dennis Donovan]

1. Justice...

...at least, this time.

[malthaussen]

2. Wow, how did that happen?

Maybe he should have shot him instead, he'd probably have been acquitted.

-- Mal

[Sneederbunk]

3. It's a start.

[47of74]

4. Hopefully in general population

[pecosbob]

5. What I am waiting for

is to see that people like this are forever barred from seeking employment with any other law enforcement agency. I've seen way too many bad cops get fired from large metropolitan police forces simply move and go to work as cops in some small town.