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Officer Files Whistleblower Lawsuit In Mateen Cleaves Case, Says He Was Pressured To Portray Guilt

MUNDY TWP (CBS Detroit) An officer who investigated the case against Mateen Cleaves filed a whistle blower lawsuit against his small town police department, claiming they forced him to portray the former Spartans great as guilty.

The township allegedly informed officer Brian Ogle on Feb. 4 that he was in violation of the department's rules and regulations. Then on Feb. 25, he was suspended without pay for two days, the lawsuit says. Ogle said the suspension came after he had emailed the Wayne County Prosecutors Office on Nov. 17 to report suspected violations of state law by the township and department in the Cleaves investigation.

Exactly what members of his department allegedly did is not outlined. Ogle's attorney Dean Yeotis did not return calls seeking comment on the case. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office and the police department do not comment on pending litigation or personnel matters.

Ogle is seeking more than $25,000 in past and future economic damages.

Cleaves was arraigned March 16 on charges that he sexually assaulted a woman last year in a motel near Flint. Prosecutors say took place after he met the woman at a charity golf outing in September.

The case was transferred to the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office in October over a possible conflict of interest with a potential witness in the case, officials said. Wayne County charged Cleaves with taking the 24-year-old woman to a motel in Mundy Township, southwest of Flint, on Sept. 15, keeping her against her will and sexually assaulting her.

Cleaves, 39, of Grand Blanc, was charged with unlawful imprisonment, assault with intent to commit criminal sexual penetration, second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, prosecutors said. The counts are punishable by up to 10 to 15 years in prison.

In the complaint, Ogle says he found himself at odds with his department because he would not "acquiesce to defendants pressure to portray Mr. Cleaves as guilty of sexual assault."

 

 

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