Gay Cleveland men claim they were arrested, jailed without pants
Fri. February 3, 2012 8:10 PM by GoPride.com News Staff
Cleveland, Ohio -
Steven Ondo and Jonathan Simcox of Cleveland, Ohio, have filed a federal lawsuit claiming they were arrested on false pretenses and hauled away without their pants on because they are gay.
Ondo and Simcox told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the trouble started when a neighbor, who is also a police officer, got upset with a noisy argument and had them arrested.
They were arrested again a week later by a SWAT team, who they claimed punched them and hauled them away without letting them get their pants on.
Ondo and Simcox said they were shackled to other prisoners and then tossed into a cell, where they were kept for an entire day without pants.
"They were humiliated and embarrassed," said attorney Dan Chaplin. He said that police told them "f*** don't deserve to wear pants. It was just real old-fashioned gay bashing by the Cleveland police department."
The City of Cleveland said it had no comment on the lawsuit.
Ondo and Simcox told the Cleveland Plain Dealer that the trouble started when a neighbor, who is also a police officer, got upset with a noisy argument and had them arrested.
They were arrested again a week later by a SWAT team, who they claimed punched them and hauled them away without letting them get their pants on.
Ondo and Simcox said they were shackled to other prisoners and then tossed into a cell, where they were kept for an entire day without pants.
"They were humiliated and embarrassed," said attorney Dan Chaplin. He said that police told them "f*** don't deserve to wear pants. It was just real old-fashioned gay bashing by the Cleveland police department."
The City of Cleveland said it had no comment on the lawsuit.