KALAMAZOO, Mich. — The former Western Michigan University police officer arrested on human trafficking charges also received multiple warnings and reprimands while working for the school's department of public safety.
New documents from his personnel file unveiled the various offenses during his time as an on-duty officer.
The various incidents range from September 2019 to October 2019, a period of six years, where 49-year-old Abraham Hohnke underwent two internal investigations, had two verbal warnings, a written reprimand and a formal written warning.
Here are the documents from his personnel file outlining the incidents:
In September of 2014, he was involved in an internal investigation that resulted in a three-day suspension and no-contact order following an inappropriate text conversation with a student.
The school found Hohnke to reportedly have initiated and engaged in a text exchange with a student who had called for service on their sick roommate.
Hohnke stated in the text he was following up to check on the student but also inappropriately referenced a personal item from the student's room at the time of the service call.
In February 2015, he received a verbal warning for reportedly damaging patrol cars in a preventable accident.
Then in March of 2017, Hohnke was given a written reprimand for violating conduct rules where he was accused of arriving to the Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety's indoor firing range while smelling of alcohol.
That same year in August, he was involved in another internal investigation where he was put on a five-day suspension. He was accused of drinking prior to duty and reporting to work under the influence of alcohol.
Following that incident, he signed a "last chance" agreement that stated he would be terminated following any other similar instances.
In September 2019, a verbal warning was given after his patrol car was involved in an accident for being improperly parked, partially in a lane of traffic on campus.
Then in October 2019, Hohnke was given a formal written warning for not having his microphone on during a traffic stop as required. In that instance, a report was filed following a parent complaint saying he was rude to her daughter during the stop.
Hohnke is currently being charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes and communicating with another using the internet on a computer to commit a crime.
He resigned after being placed on suspension without pay by the university.
Here is the statement sent out to students and faculty:
A Western Michigan University spokesperson confirmed he worked for the department for 10 years.
They declined comment, saying they do not speak on personnel matters.
