Two Veteran IMPD Officers Arrested For Beating Up Drunk Man At South Side Bar

Two IMPD officers have been arrested and charged with battery resulting in serious bodily injury after they allegedly beat an intoxicated patron of a bar on the City's south side unconscious while they were off duty. The incident occurred on August 7 at Mikie's Pub on South Emerson according to Fox 59 News. Officers John Serban and Michael Reiger were in the pub drinking when they approached a 29-year old intoxicated man at the bar who refused to leave. A fight ensued after one of the officers showed the man his badge and he threw it to the ground.

Surveillance video showed Serban placing the victim in a choke hold for about a minute. Both officers continued beating the man after he was unconscious according to the court documents. The officers then dragged the man while he was laying face down out of the bar and nearly fifty feet across the parking lot pavement. The victim suffered a hemorrhage in his eye and marks on his neck from the choke hold. He also had a footprint on his face and road rash from being dragged across the pavement. The officers left the man laying in the parking lot and returned to the bar to continue drinking without calling for medical help. Neither police officer arrested the man nor contacted a superior or another police officer about the incident.

The police report also indicates that the victim claimed that $180 had been stolen from his wallet, along with a pair of Oakley sunglasses after he reported the incident several days later. A bartender who witnessed the incident told police the victim had been belligerent prior to the altercation but did not feel threatened by him. Both officers have been suspended without pay pending their termination. Serban is a 16-year veteran of the department, while Reiger has been with the department for 15 years.