Former East Point policeman awarded $4 million judgment

COLUMBUS - A former East Point police officer was awarded $4 million Tuesday in a lawsuit stemming from his arrest in a 1999 motel room burglary. <br> <br> Johnathon Askew, 30, was cleared after the charge was found to be meritless, but he told State Court Judge Maureen Gottfried that he has been unable to get a job in law enforcement for more than two years. <br> <br> Gottfried ordered that Columbus businessman Arvind Patal, owner of The Villager Lodge, must pay Askew $2.5 million in compensatory damages and $1.5 million in punitive damages, plus $8,200 in attorneys fees. <br> <br> Neither Patel nor his lawyer appeared in court. Patel never answered the suit filed Oct. 24, 2000. Tuesday&#39;s hearing to determine damages was set after Gottfried found Patel in default. <br> <br> Askew testified that his troubles began when Columbus police led him from his home in handcuffs as his children, his landlord and his neighbors watched. <br> <br> The East Point Police Department fired him, and his Peace Officer Standards and Training certification remains suspended, Askew said. <br> <br> He said his daughter, then 4, also was fingerprinted after a motel employee told police the girl was hoisted through a window to open the room door. Askew said neither he nor his daughter were ever at the motel. <br> <br> The charge was apparently the vengeful product of a motel employee who was angry at his fiancee, the mother of his two children, Askew said.