Edward Krawetz officer who kicked cuffed woman in the face fights for job

A Rhode Island cop, who was slapped with a 10-year suspension in March for kicking a cuffed woman in the head outside of a casino, is now fighting for his job.

Edward Krawetz, an officer with the Lincoln Police Department, is facing an administrative hearing on whether he can keep his uniform — although an online petition is calling for him to be fired and dealt a harsher sentence.

“There is no way this man needs to have any authority,” according to the Change.org petition, which netted more than 400 signatures in the past three days.

Video surveillance of the May 2009 assault against Donna Levesque showed Krawetz, a 12-year-veteran, swinging his right foot to her face while she sat on the curb with her hands behind her back. The kick was powerful enough to knock her over.

Levesque had been at the Twin River Casino in Lincoln and was reportedly ordered to leave for unruly behavior.

Krawetz, 47, claimed self-defense during a felony battery trial inJanuary, and said the move was triggered after Levesque kicked his shin, according to CBS affiliate WPRI in Providence.

The cop escaped prison time, but a judge ordered him to undergo counseling and hit him with the decade-long suspension.

Krawetz, who was suspended without pay, declined to address the court before his sentencing.

But now, he could officially lose his job in a disciplinary hearing that began in June and will resume in August, according to the Providence Journal.

He faces six administrative counts. An attorney for the town of Lincoln said it is unclear if Krawetz will have to testify when the hearing continues next month.

Convicted Lincoln Police Officer Edward Krawetz in court“He doesn’t have to be here,” lawyer Vincent Ragosta told WPRI.

Krawetz’s attorney, Gary Gentile, declined to comment after the hearing’s opening arguments last month, the station said.

The criminal case against Krawetz isn’t the first for him: In 2001, he pleaded no contest on a charge of simple assault against a man who was jogging.

He was suspended for 30 days, although the police chief at the time had recommended he be fired, WPRI said.

Ragosta told the station that Krawetz is still eligible for a pension when he reaches retirement age.