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Juan Ortiz, seen here, and his family have filed a second lawsuit against the city of Cleveland claiming the city has a pattern and practice of using excessive force against residents.

(Plain Dealer file photo)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Cleveland Division of Police promoted a police officer awaiting discipline and named in a civil lawsuit that accuses him of not stepping in after his partner slammed a teenager with Down syndrome against the hood of a hot car, according to a lawsuit filed Monday in federal court.

The promotion of Fifth District Sgt. Dan Crisan may have violated a settlement the city reached with the U.S. Justice Department to reform the police department, the lawsuit says.

The suit says the police department has a pattern of using excessive force against suspects, using racist language and that it didn't train officers to handle people with disabilities. The lawsuit cites a Justice Department investigation with similar findings that led to the city's agreement to reform.

The lawsuit also says the department has a history of racist behavior and cites the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association's recent endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump as an example of that. The union and the police department are separate entities.

(You can read the new lawsuit here or at the bottom of this story.)

Monday's filing is related to a separate 2011 lawsuit filed by Juan Ortiz and his family against Crisan and officer Brian Kazimer over a 2010 incident.

Ortiz was 16 years old, less than 5 feet tall and weighed about 118 pounds when Kazimer chased and held him on the hood of the car for 15 minutes because he matched the description of a robbery suspect, that lawsuit says. Crisan did not intervene, Ortiz and his family says.

They also said Crisan told them that "you don't know English, shut up, you shouldn't live in the United States if you don't know English." Ortiz is of Puerto Rican descent, a commonwealth of the United States.

Ortiz, now 22, had chest pains, cuts on his wrist and an abscess near his groin after the encounter with police. He was also diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, according to his lawyers.

The Justice Department investigation into Cleveland police cited Ortiz's case as problematic.

Crisan's promotion to sergeant last year came as he and Kazimer await discipline for actions in Ortiz's case. The sergeant was found in 2011 to have violated department policy when he told Ortiz's parents to "shut the f--- up" when Ortiz was being held, according to a letter sent by then-police Chief Michael McGrath that is part of the court filings.

Neither officer has been punished for wrongdoing because the city had a policy at the time of waiting until a court proceeding is finished before it made a decision on whether to impose discipline, the city has said. That policy has since changed, though the old policy is still being followed for this case because it happened before the change.

The city's settlement, known as a consent decree, says the appointing authority must consider several factors when deciding on promotions. This includes looking at an officer's disciplinary record, the number and circumstances of use-of-force incidents and any pending disciplinary cases.

"And yet, sometime during the fall of 2015, the Division of Police promoted Officer Crisan to the rank of Sergeant," the new lawsuit says.

Crisan and Kazimer's trial is set for Nov. 14 in front of U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan. Ortiz and his family are trying to merge the new lawsuit with the old one, and that may mean a delay if that happens.

City spokesman Dan Williams said he could not comment on the pending lawsuit. He did not immediately provide a reason for Crisan's promotion.

The city said in a court filing Thursday that it opposes merging the two lawsuits.

The officers have denied any wrongdoing in the civil case.

The new lawsuit also says the department's "racist culture" is evident by the patrolmen's union's endorsement of Trump. The candidate, while expressing support for police, has also been labeled a racist, xenophobe and sexist by his many detractors.

"Trump's vile behavior -- and the police union's overwhelming embrace of Trump -- is consistent with the officers' unbridled racist statements toward Juan Ortiz and his family," the lawsuit says.

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