Ex-cop gets prison for choking girlfriend

CLEVELAND — A married former Cleveland police officer who admitted to beating and choking his girlfriend was sentenced to two years in prison Wednesday.

Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Saffold called Kevin Stanard’s actions on May 5 “reprehensible” before sending the former 27-year veteran patrolman to prison.

Stanard pleaded guilty to attempted felonious assault, strangulation and unlawfully possessing a firearm in a liquor establishment. Prosecutors dismissed charges of felonious assault and aggravated robbery for stealing the woman’s cellphone during the attack in exchange for the plea.

The city placed Stanard on leave when he was charged. He then retired in November.

The attack came at a downtown Cleveland parking lot while Stanard was working his secondary shift as a security guard at Countrywide Mortgage, prosecutors said.

Stanard began drinking on the job at the end of his police shift that day and continued drinking for several hours, prosecutors said.

Stanard’s girlfriend, a former Cleveland police supervisor, confronted him about his drinking, and the two drove to a VFW in Euclid, prosecutors said. They returned to downtown, and the woman again confronted Stanard in a parking lot. He then attacked her, prosecutors said.

Stanard punched her several times, then grabbed her by the neck and choked her for several seconds, prosecutors said. Stanard then took the woman’s cellphone, and drove away.

The next day the woman went to the hospital after discovering blood in her urine. She also had severe rib pain and hearing problems.

Just after midnight that same night, Stanard crashed his wife’s car into a telephone pole. An accident report shows a witness told police that Stanard was driving 80 mph in the westbound lane before he veered across the center turn lane and ultimately drove over the curb. He was taken to the hospital.

The woman told investigators that Stanard had abused her multiple times before.

Stanard’s attorney, Daniel Misiewicz, said in court filings that Stanard had been in treatment for alcohol addiction since the incident and had ended his relationship with the woman.