A Cincinnati police officer charged in the death of a suspect will await his trial without pay after city officials decided his indictment alone constitutes a failure of good behavior.

        Officer Robert “Blaine” Jorg was suspended without pay to maintain public confidence in the Cincinnati Police Division, City Manager John Shirey said.

Jorg

        “These indictments are extremely serious,” he said in a statement. “Police officers occupy positions of great public trust and are held to a high standard of conduct.”

        Fraternal Order of Police President Keith Fangman called the suspension an unfair presumption of guilt. The decision also denies Officer Jorg, who earned about $46,000 a year, access to his retirement accounts. The union immediately started working on an appeal.

        Another police officer, Matthew Moning, also lost his paycheck Thursday. He was indicted this month on an unrelated felony, accused of researching someone's criminal history and giving it out.

        “What are these officers going to live on now?” Mr. Fangman asked. “They have mortgages, they have families, they have utility bills. This will be devastating.”

        Officer Jorg, 28, was indicted Jan. 4 on involuntary manslaughter and misdemeanor assault charges in the Nov. 7 death of Roger Owensby Jr. Mr. Owensby suffocated during his arrest by Officer Jorg and others in the parking lot of a Roselawn gas station.

        In the previous few instances where officers were indicted on felonies, they were fired before their trials, Mr. Fangman said.
       

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