Dyer man files complaint against Lake Station police, city

LAKE STATION | A 44-year-old Dyer man claims Lake Station police used unreasonable force during his May 19 arrest last year.

The complaint was filed earlier this week in Lake Superior Court by Mark Kresich against the city of Lake Station and police officers Wendell Hite, Michael Smith, John McDaniel and Christopher Purser.

Kresich was arrested during an undercover drug bust in which he is accused of selling $150 worth of methadone tablets to an undercover officer, Assistant Police Chief John McDaniel said.

Kresich later was charged in Lake Superior Court with dealing a Schedule II controlled substance, resisting law enforcement and battery on law enforcement.

Highland attorney David S. Gladish said his client suffered multiple bruising over his body and a fractured left shoulder and arm during the arrest.

As a result of those injuries, Kresich later was hospitalized at Porter hospital in Valparaiso and eventually underwent surgery for a broken arm, Gladish said.

Gladish in the complaint filed on behalf of his client is seeking a judgment against the city and police that would "adequately and justly compensate him for the injuries and damages he has sustained and continues to sustain."

Lake Station City Attorney Ray Szarmach said he couldn't comment on the case because he didn't know anything about it. Typically all negligence complaints are forwarded to the city's insurance liability carrier, he noted.