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mrsat_98
06-01-2014, 07:11 PM
Cleveland police indictment part of wider deadly force investigation

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/cleveland-police-indictment-part-of-wider-deadly-force-investigation/2014/05/31/b34bafc4-e8ff-11e3-afc6-a1dd9407abcf_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines
OHIO

Probe of police leads

to officers’ indictment

A police chase that ended in a schoolyard with two unarmed suspects dying in a hail of 137 bullets is part of a broad federal investigation of the Cleveland Police Department’s use of deadly force and its pursuit policies.

Six officers in the department were indicted Friday on charges related to the chase, Cuyahoga County prosecutor Tim McGinty said. Patrol officer Michael Brelo, who the prosecutor said stood on the hood of the suspects’ car and fired at least 15 shots through the windshield, has been charged with two counts of manslaughter. Five supervisors have been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to control the chase.

McGinty cited a U.S. Supreme Court ruling last week that said police can’t fire on suspects after a public safety threat has ended. He said the other officers on the scene had stopped firing after the November 2012 chase was over.

Driver Timothy Russell was shot 23 times. Passenger Malissa Williams was shot 24 times. No gun was found on them or in their vehicle. The chase began when an officer thought he heard a gunshot from a car speeding past the police and courts complex, jumped into his patrol car and radioed for help.

Brelo fired 49 shots. None of the other 12 officers who fired shots was indicted, McGinty said.

The police union has defended the officers’ actions and said the driver was trying to ram them.