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Former North Royalton police officer sues city and officials, alleging retaliation for exposing felony record tampering and cover-up

Thursday, May 14, 2026

Former Officer Spencer Lowe, who arrested an Orange Village deputy police chief on felony charges, blew the whistle after police Chief Tarase and Lt. Cutler tampered with his report by removing the felony charge.

Former North Royalton police officer sues city and officials, alleging retaliation for exposing felony record tampering and cover-up
North Royalton Police Chief Keith Tarase is accused of cover-up and felony tampering; Tarase and former Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz are accused of First Amendment retaliation and civil liability for criminal acts.

NORTH ROYALTON, OH — Today, former North Royalton police officer Spencer Lowe filed a civil-rights lawsuit in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas against the City of North Royalton, former Mayor Lawrence Antoskiewicz, and Police Chief Keith Tarase. The complaint alleges the City fired Lowe in retaliation for blowing the whistle on high-ranking officials who feloniously tampered with a police report to protect a fellow officer.

The arrest of a deputy police chief who was intoxicated while driving and possessing a firearm

The conflict began on October 11, 2025, when Officer Lowe stopped Orange Village Deputy Police Chief Patrick O’Callahan for swerving and speeding. According to the complaint:

  • Lowe and a fellow officer determined O’Callahan was visibly intoxicated and found multiple loaded firearms on his person and in plain view in his vehicle. O’Callahan was speeding, swerving left of center, and was visibly and audibly intoxicated.

  • Officer Lowe’s body-camera footage showed O’Callahan had three guns in his possession: one in his front pocket, one in his car’s center console, and one in the back seat. All three guns were loaded. Under R.C. 2923.16(D), it is a fifth-degree felony for a person under the influence of alcohol to knowingly transport or have a loaded handgun in a motor vehicle.

  • O’Callahan improperly tried to use his status as a deputy chief to influence Lowe. He flashed his badge and asked "Can I show you this?" Body-camera footage also shows O’Callahan claiming he knew a North Royalton police officer, yet unable to recognize him even when that officer stood in front of him.

Lowe arrested O’Callahan and charged him with Operating a Vehicle Impaired (OVI) and felony improper handling of a firearm.

The bodycam footage from the encounter, along with Officer Lowe's whistleblowing voicemail, may be found here:

The alleged cover-up: tampering with public records and evidence

The suit further alleges that:

  • Lt. James Cutler pressured Lowe to delete from his police report descriptions of O’Callahan flashing his badge during the stop.

  • On Tuesday, October 14, 2025, Sgt. FloAnn Rybicki, a fellow officer who had read Officer Lowe’s report, told him that the charge was no longer there. She gave Lowe a copy of the altered records. According to the report’s electronic-audit history, Lt. James Cutler deleted the charge. Police Chief Keith Tarase and Cutler later claimed that they tampered with the report at the suggestion of local prosecutor James McDonnell.
  • McDonnell has no such authority to direct tampering with records and evidence. He might dismiss a charge later. But he can't alter or direct the alteration of a police report.

  • Tarase and Cutler allegedly altered the official public record to shield O’Callahan from the publicity and career-end associated with a felony.

Whistleblowing, “sham” investigations, and retaliatory firing

The lawsuit alleges that Lowe reported this criminal record-tampering to Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz, both orally by voicemail and in writing.

But the mayor failed to correct the report or address the misconduct.

Lowe then reported the corruption to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI), the FBI, the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office, and his Fraternal Order of Police union lawyer.

Each of these reports constituted protected speech under the First Amendment and the Ohio Whistleblower Protection Act.

In response, the suit alleges, the City allegedly “weaponized” internal investigations against Lowe:

  • Instead of punishing the city’s police administrators for tampering with a public record to protect a fellow law-enforcement officer, Mayor Antoskiewicz launched an investigation into Officer Lowe.

  • The City hired an outside investigator with no experience in police operations, who baselessly insisted the Chief and Lieutenant had done nothing wrong.

  • The investigator claimed this despite Tarase and Cutler admitting during multiple police investigations that they deleted felony charges for improper handling of a firearm. That, the suit alleges, violates not only department policy on changing reports, but Ohio criminal law. Specifically, Officer Lowe alleges in the suit that Tarase and Cutler violated R.C. 2913.42(B)(4) (tampering with records) and R.C. 2921.12 (tampering with evidence), both felonies.

  • Mayor Antoskiewicz launched a secondary investigation into Lowe supposedly leaking unredacted documents to the media.

  • Although the City’s own report found no evidence that Lowe shared any documents with the media, on April 14, 2026, Mayor Antoskiewicz fired Officer Lowe.

Fall out

Mayor Anthoskiewicz has resigned following the controversy. North Royalton demoted Sgt. FloAnn Rybicki for providing Officer Lowe his own police report that he used to blow the whistle. Law director Tom Kelly, who facilitated Lowe's firing and Rybicki's demotion, has also announced his departure.

North Royalton outside counsel James Budzik, who was instrumental in implementing the retaliation, has previously been the subject of litigation for retaliation.

Legal claims and seeking accountability

Officer Lowe asserts the following civil claims in his lawsuit:

  • First Amendment retaliation for firing him and subjecting him to a pretextual investigation for reporting public corruption to outside law-enforcement agencies and prosecutors. Officer Lowe also asserted that the city violated his rights because it believed—contrary to the results of its own investigation—that he leaked police records to reporters and fired him for it.

  • First Amendment retaliation for firing him and subjecting him to a pretextual investigation for participating in union-related activities.

  • Civil liability for criminal acts, including interference with civil and statutory rights, witness intimidation, retaliating against a witness, intimidation, tampering with records, and falsification.

Subodh Chandra, lead counsel for Lowe, said:

Officer Lowe did exactly what the law and his oath required: he held a law-breaker accountable, regardless of his badge, and then reported allegations about his own supervisors’ felonious tampering with public records and cover-up. The public expects and deserves officers like Lowe. The City of North Royalton responded by choosing a ‘good old boys’ culture over the rule of law, launching a retaliatory smear campaign to destroy a whistleblower’s career. This lawsuit seeks to ensure that no official is above the law—not even a police chief or a mayor.

Chandra added, "It remains to be seen whether the new mayor, Paul Marnecheck, will just do the right thing and reinstate Lowe without preconditions and restore Sgt. Rybicki to her former status. He hasn't so far."

Lowe is represented by Subodh Chandra and Emily Bohatch.

Officer Lowe’s complaint, filed in Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, Case No. CV 26 138852, is assigned to Judge Emily Hagan. It can be read here.

The civil complaint follows a May 6, 2026 Ohio Whistleblower Protection Act appeal of Lowe's firing to the State Personnel Board of Review.

About The Chandra Law Firm LLC

The Chandra Law Firm LLC is a boutique firm based in Cleveland, Ohio, dedicated to vindicating the rights of whistleblowers and victims of civil-rights violations. The firm is known for its advocacy in high-stakes litigation against government and corporate misconduct.

Chandra Law is experienced obtaining justice for victims of employment retaliation. We also secure constitutional rights.

And the firm helped pioneer work in holding individuals and companies accountable for civil liability for criminal acts, securing the two leading Supreme Court of Ohio decisions favorable to crime victims on the topic.

If you think that your rights have been violated, you may contact us to discuss your options.


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Related Practice Areas
Constitutional LawEmployment RetaliationFirst AmendmentCrime Victims: Civil Action for Damages for Criminal Acts Under Ohio Revised Code § 2307.60First Amendment RetaliationSection 1983 Litigation: Holding Government Officials Accountable for Constitutional ViolationsOhio Whistleblower Protection Act
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