By James F. McCarty, The Plain Dealer
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- City police officer David Anderson had three
prior incidents of domestic violence before he was indicted last month on
charges of menacing by stalking, aggravated menacing and domestic violence,
according to court documents.
Cuyahoga County prosecutors on
Monday filed an eight-page motion asking a judge to raise Anderson's bond to
$100,000 to more accurately reflect the seriousness of the charges and his
three previous violent episodes with women.
Anderson is scheduled to be
arraigned on the latest charges on Thursday in Common Pleas Court, at which
time a new bond will be set, he will be asked to enter a plea, and a judge will
be assigned to the case.
Anderson, 51, a city police
officer since 2007, is free on a $10,000 bond posted by Cleveland Police
Patrolman's Association president Jeffrey Follmer. He was released from jail
Dec. 16 -- the day after his arrest.
Anderson, a Second District
patrol officer, is suspended without pay pending the outcome of his case. His
lawyer Henry Hilow said he would plead not guilty to the charges at the
hearing. He decried the prosecutors' motion.
"Officer Anderson is a
good public servant and an outstanding police officer," Hilow said.
"He is ready to vigorously defend himself against these charges. The
request for a $100,000 bond for a fourth-degree felony is ridiculous."
According to the prosecutors' motion,
Anderson already has violated a no-contact order with the victim, his
43-year-old live-in girlfriend, who told police that Anderson called her after
his arrest.
"The state is extremely
concerned that Anderson will do so again," the motion reads, "and
that the mere possibility of any further contact between Anderson and the
victim poses an unjustifiable risk that he will harm her."
According to the motion,
Anderson attacked his girlfriend three times on consecutive days, beginning
Dec. 13, when he shoved her to the ground, causing her head to strike the
pavement and knocking her unconscious.
The next day, Anderson again
shoved the woman to the ground outside their home on South Hills Avenue in
Cleveland. The following day, he kicked in her bedroom door, chased her down
the stairs and shoved her to the landing, where her head was bloodied, the
motion said.
In 2010, North Royalton police
arrested Anderson after he threatened a different girlfriend, knocked out
drywall in her home, broke dishes and slashed the tires on her car, the motion
said. Anderson later pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of disorderly conduct.
In 2009, the girlfriend's
daughter called police to report that Anderson was on top of her mother and
threatening to punch her. But the girlfriend declined to press charges.
In 2005, Cleveland police
arrested Anderson after the same woman accused him of threatening to snap her
neck. He later called her from jail and told her, "If I could have, I
would have snapped your neck. You better fix this," according to the
motion. City prosecutors declined to charge Anderson then.
County prosecutors contend that
police officers must be held to a higher legal standard than the public, and
that Anderson's violent crimes damage the trust essential for officers to
properly perform their duty to protect and uphold the laws.
"When a bad officer breaks
the law, he makes the job of every good officer less safe," the motion
said.
"Because of that
heightened legal standard, this court should set bond at a level that is above
and beyond what this court would normally set for a serial abuser of women with
a history of threats and violence, who has already violated the no-contact
order against him," the motion concludes.
The prosecutors said a larger
bond is also necessary because Anderson faces the likelihood of a prison
sentence, if convicted, providing him a "significant incentive to
flee."
