COLUMBUS (WCMH) – Both Columbus police officers arrested on drug charges this week have been disciplined in the past, according to personnel and court files.

John Kotchkoski was disciplined for allegedly assaulting someone during the 2015 Dublin Irish Festival.

Kotchkoski was off duty at the time. Records show he was also disciplined for “dishonorable conduct and comments while in custody of Dublin police” during the same incident.

According to court records, Kotchkoski kicked a man in the head while the man was unconscious on the ground.

Kotchkoski was never suspended as a result of what happened and instead, forfeited his accrued leave.

Marco Merino’s personnel file shows he was disciplined for two car accidents. One of those was in 2018 when Merino didn’t put his cruiser in park and it rolled into a parked car. The second accident was in 2019 when Merino made a u-turn in front of an oncoming car.

Merino was found at fault for both crashes, receiving written reprimands because both happened while he was “involved in police work of an urgent nature,” documents state.

Both officers were officially relieved of duty Tuesday as a result of their arrests, but Merino had been relieved of his assignment since Sept. 16.

According to personnel records, Merino was found to be physically, mentally, or emotionally unable to perform his duties due to stress.