Police: Accusations against EPD officer include breaking down door of girlfriend's bedroom (UPDATED)

This story has been updated. ELYRIA — Off-duty, intoxicated and angry at his emergency dispatcher girlfriend after officers were sent to his brother's house to investigate a noise complaint Sept. 5, Elyria police Officer John Juker showed up at her house that night and got into an argument. That incident resulted in Juker, 33, who joined the Elyria Police Department in June 2018, being charged with misdemeanor domestic violence and criminal damaging after he broke down a bedroom door in the house before his girlfriend called her supervisor for help. A combination of police reports and interviews were submitted to Elyria Law Director Amanda Deery for consideration of charges. To maintain an independent investigation, Deery forwarded the reports over to the city of Lorain Prosecutor's Office for review. Lorain prosecutors filed fourth-degree misdemeanor domestic violence and second-degree misdemeanor criminal damaging charges against Juker in Elyria Municipal Court, where he was arraigned Sept. 24 and released on bond, according to court records. Fourteen pages of police interviews and reports provided to The Chronicle-Telegram by the city of Lorain Prosecutor's Office as part of a public records request detail what happened Sept. 5 and in several previous incidents described by the alleged victim. The Chronicle-Telegram does not typically name alleged victims of domestic violence. At 11:38 p.m. that night, an Elyria police sergeant and two officers responded to a domestic disturbance at a house on Salem Avenue. Lt. James Welsh, who supervises the department's afternoon shift, reported that he had received a call from an off-duty dispatcher, who was Juker's girlfriend. She told Welsh she had locked herself in a bedroom and that Juker had kicked in the door during an argument. Juker had been living with the woman since returning from a military deployment in May. Welsh talked to Juker on the phone and told him to leave the house and wait for officers to show up, according to the reports. Juker, his girlfriend, her brother and her mother were there when officers arrived. The girlfriend, who was "visibly upset and crying," told Sgt. Brandon Pool she had worked her normal shift and returned home at 10 p.m. Earlier, around 8:20 p.m. and while she was still on duty at the Elyria police station, a citizen called in a noise complaint about a party in the 800 block of Thornwood Boulevard. Juker's brother lives at the Thornwood Boulevard address, and Juker was at the party. Elyria officers responded and found Juker there "in an intoxicated state with moderate slurred speech, but not overly intoxicated," Officer Joanna Catalano told a supervisor during a Sept. 9 interview. Juker wasn't angry at his fellow officers, "just questioned why they were sent," Catalano told Lt. Deena Baker. Officer John Brown, who also responded to the noise complaint, told Baker that when Juker asked why he and Catalano had showed up, he "responded that you know that if they call we have to come." According to the girlfriend, Juker got angry with her for dispatching officers to the complaint when she knew he was there. She said she told Juker another dispatcher had taken the call and that she wasn't the one who had dispatched officers, according to Pool's report. "Juker still blamed (the alleged victim), saying she should have texted him and canceled the call for service," Pool wrote. She replied to him that "she's required to do her job regardless." The argument continued, and the alleged victim said she asked Juker to return her house key. He refused and told her was going to come over, Pool wrote. When he got to her Salem Avenue residence and put his keys down, she took the keys, ran into a bedroom and closed the door. She told Pool she was only trying to take her house key off Juker's key ring. Juker ordered her to open the the bedroom door "saying he would kick it in if she didn't open it," she told Pool. Juker then got a knife — the alleged victim later would say she didn't know what kind of knife it was, while Juker told officers it was a butter knife — and tried to pick the lock on the door. When that didn't work, Juker kicked the door in, knocking her to the floor and breaking a mirror on the back of the door since she was holding the door closed with her body weight. The alleged victim then called Welsh. Though he did not threaten to harm her, she told Pool that "this wasn't the first time that Juker has become violent," that Juker often drinks and that drinking makes him "extremely angry." The alleged victim "does not feel safe around Juker when he acts this way," Pool wrote in his report, and that she wanted him out of her house and not to return. Pool and Officer Dustin Thacker then interviewed Juker, "who was clearly intoxicated (and) gave a similar recollection to (the alleged victim's) account." He admitted kicking the door open to get his keys back and said he knew he was wrong for doing so. Juker also said he only went to the house to get some of his belongings and those of his children back for the night. Juker's brother showed up and helped Juker get his property out of the house, with officers standing by as he did. The alleged victim's key was returned, Juker was banned from her property on threat of being charged with criminal trespass and also was told not to call or contact her in any way. Juker's city-provided car was driven back to police headquarters and his off-duty and department-issued weapons taken for safekeeping, according to Pool's report. On Sept. 8, the alleged victim met with police Chief Duane Whitely and Baker to discuss the incident. According to her report, Baker learned the woman's mother told officers her daughter had been injured several weeks by "an accident during horseplay." It was also learned that Juker had recorded the incident on his phone because, he told the alleged victim, she had said in the past "that he acts differently when he drinks and she doesn't feel safe." Police were seeking a search warrant for Juker's phone to determine if he that was true, according to Baker's report. Text messages the woman provided to Whitely and Baker showed that the couple argued over whether "Juker doesn't stick up for (the alleged victim) regarding his family talking trash about her and being mad she sent officers" to his brother's house over the noise complaint Sept. 5. The alleged victim "states she is tired of being treated terribly and wants to end the relationship," according to Baker's report. Previous incidents The alleged victim told Whitely and Baker that Thursday, Aug. 26, which was one of Juker's days off, he had been drinking all day. Juker "typically purchases a case of Truly (hard seltzer) on his days off and will finish the case in a day," the alleged victim told Baker and the chief. Juker's daughters were over at the woman's house that day because he had visitation rights, and when she got home she found the house a mess. Juker then "became upset with her because she didn't acknowledge him when she arrived home." The alleged victim said she told him she didn't appreciate coming home to a mess after working all day, cleaned up while he put his daughters to bed and that the couple then sat on the couch and argued. When she tried to end the argument by getting up from the couch, Juker "pushed her back down on the couch, causing her to hit the back of her head on the wooden frame of the couch's arm" and leaving a cut on the back of her head. Juker "could hardly stand up himself due to intoxication and ended up falling on top of her and his head hit her head as he came down, causing a lump on her head," she told Baker and Whitely. In another incident that happened sometime between Aug. 18-26, the alleged victim said Juker was drunk and that the couple argued over his drinking. Juker yelled at her "that he is the 'alpha' and he can drink when he wants," she reported. When she tried to walk away, Juker "grabbed both of her arms in the bicep area and pushed her against the wall, telling her she needs to shut up." Juker yelled at her "for a few minutes" before releasing her, she told Baker. The alleged victim had bruises on her arms the following day and sent photos of them to another dispatcher, Baker reported. That dispatcher later confirmed her story, but the photos had disappeared because they were sent using Snapchat, which deletes photos after only a short time. The alleged victim also said on Aug. 18 she had planned a date night with Juker but he failed to show up. Around 11:30 p.m., Juker finally showed up but was "extremely intoxicated," had bragged on Snapchat "how he just drove home at 105 mph and in an intoxicated state," and parked his car half in the yard and half in the driveway, she told Baker. Following that argument, Juker passed out in a chair in the sunroom and vomited when she woke him up. He then vomited in the kitchen and bathroom, but when she tried to help him he "began yelling at her to stop telling him what to do and that he can take care of himself." "Juker then grabbed her with one hand by the throat and pushed her up against the wall and told her that he is 'in charge' and is the 'alpha' and that it was not her place to help him or tell him what to do. He held her there less than a minute and then released her," the alleged victim told Baker. The incident left the woman "really scared and confused, as she was just trying to help him," but she did not tell anyone about it and had no injuries as a result of him grabbing her by the throat. In a text message the alleged victim shared with Whitely and Baker, Juker wrote: "The whole f------ place wondered how cops showed up when I'm a cop and my gf (girlfriend) is a dispatcher," in reference to the call where officers showed up at his brother's house Sept. 5. The alleged victim's mother told Baker she had spent $1,000 changing the locks on her daughter's house and putting up security cameras because her daughter was so afraid of Juker. She also said she suspected her daughter was covering for Juker "because she and (her daughter) have had many arguments about how (the alleged victim's mother) does not have a good feeling about Juker and (her daughter's) relationship," Baker wrote. "There is growing concern over the sharp escalation of alleged alcohol abuse and violent behavior by Juker," Baker concluded in her report. Juker on leave Juker retained a police union attorney and in a follow-up meeting with Baker and Elyria police Lt. Michael Groomes, he declined to make any further statements and was informed he was being placed on paid administrative leave until an internal investigation was finished. In the same meeting, Baker "noticed an odor of alcoholic beverage coming from Juker's person." She encouraged him "to abstain from consuming alcohol for the foreseeable future and reminded him not contact (the alleged victim) in any way." Juker then asked Baker to tell the alleged victim he would pay for the damages to her door and said: "I'm sorry for hurting her ... I mean emotionally and all," according to Baker's report. A message seeking comment on the details in the police reports was left for attorney Paul St. Marie, who is defending Juker along with attorney Henry Hilow. Juker's next hearing is scheduled in Elyria Municipal Court on Friday, according to court records. According to a copy of his personnel file that was requested from the city and reviewed by the Chronicle-Telegram, Juker has no prior discipline since joining the Elyria Police Department. He was involved in two minor traffic crashes while on duty, one each in April and September 2019, but "has learned from his mistakes, and is doing everything in his power to not let another incident occur," Sgt. Robert Whiting wrote in an employee performance report dated from January 2020. Juker otherwise met or exceeded all standards set by the department, according to the two employee performance reports contained in his personnel file. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.