Former Warren cop wants justice - Fox 2 News Headlines

BY MAURIELLE LUE
Fox 2 News

It's a whistleblower lawsuit that could make one former Warren cop a millionaire. Dean Toward said he reported a fellow officer for being too aggressive.  He says what came after was verbal abuse and retaliation.

"I'll take you to jail for 15 different damn things.  You want to get tough?  You want to get smart?  You want to act hard?  I don't give a (expletive) It's my city."

Veteran officer Dean Toward says this aggressive language and behavior from a fellow Warren officer made him uncomfortable. Back in April, Warren Police responded to a call that someone was shot. Toward says a woman pointed them toward a nearby house where two young kids lived and according to her often caused trouble.

"Stop talking give me your ID."

Police later learned the kids were innocent.  Fox 2 was in court Thursday morning when the charges were dropped and teens were set free.

"Finally the right thing has been done and should have been done a long ago," says Toward.

Dean Toward says he filed a complaint of the officer whose voice you hear in the video.  But those complaints fell on deaf ears. Toward says instead the officers turned against him he was forced to work the front desk -- and later reassigned to the jail to feed the prisoners. What he calls pure retaliation. Toward says he was forced to quit when officers refused to let him get candy and medication from his locker during a diabetes related health problem.

"Mr. Toward was not able to leave the building .. he was not able to leave the post if he left the post did he would be fired.  He was completely just retaliated against because he was doing what was right." says Attorney Ray Guzall

Toward is seeking seven figures in his whistleblower lawsuit.  A trial date has not been set.  Fox 2 also reached out to the city attorney representing the Warren Police Department and those calls had not not been returned at the time publication.