A man whose family owns the Crown Theater is suing the city of Crown Point, alleging that police used excessive force against him when an officer punched him in the face at least 12 times.
Craig Lozanovski implies in the lawsuit, filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond, that the theater has been forced to remain closed because of the injuries he suffered, saying the theater “has been closed since that night.”
According to the lawsuit, Lozanovski was at the theater, at 19 N. Court St., on Dec. 17, 2013, when an officer, Scott Bourrell, came in response to a call of harassment against Lozanovski. The lawsuit does not say who called police.
The lawsuit says when Bourrell entered the theater, he told Lozanovski to take his hands out of his pockets, but Lozanovski didn’t at first, waiting about five seconds to do so.
He walked outside after Bourrell asked him to, the lawsuit says, which is when the officer grabbed him by the jacket, pulled him through the door and punched Lozanovski in the face 12 to 15 times.
Police then ordered Lozanovski to the ground, and the lawsuit says another officer, Robert Ballas, put him in a choke hold.
Another officer, Derrell Josleyn then used a stun gun on him while he was laying on the ground with his arms at his side, the lawsuit says. It accuses another officer, Mille Knezevic, of watching the other officers and not stepping them.
Lozanovski claims in the lawsuit that he never resisted the officers and can no longer work because of his injuries, adding that he now receives disability payments from Social Security.
All of the officers are named as defendants, as is the city of Crown Point.
Neither Lozanovski’s attorney nor Crown Point Mayor David Uran could be reached for comment.
Lozanovski’s family bought the Crown Theatre about seven years ago, but it has been closed for several years. It advertised at one time that it was going to reopen with a showing of “After Earth,” which came out in July 2013, but it was unclear as of Friday afternoon if the theater had ever reopened since then.
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