A judge has ordered the city of Cleveland to rehire a police officer who was fired for his actions in a 2012 car chase that left two unarmed suspects dead, each having been hit by more than 20 bullets.
The Plain Dealer first reported the judge, Joseph Russo, agreed with an arbitrator’s decision that the city had acted wrongly when it fired Sergeant Michael Donegan and demoted two other police supervisors. Russo also told the city it should reinstate those men.
The judge declined the city’s appeal to overturn an arbitrator’s ruling, and said Donegan deserved not only his restored rank but also backpay. A city safety official said Donegan was fired for “the gravity of [his] failure” as a police officer during the incident.
Cleveland authorities disciplined nine police supervisors after the 2012 chase through the city; a grand jury chose to indict Donegan and four other supervisors for dereliction of duty. The grand jury also charged officer Michael Brelo with two counts of manslaughter.
On the night of 29 November 2012, Brelo and more than 100 officers in 62 police cars chased a 1979 Chevy Malibu into East Cleveland, after an officer thought he heard a gunshot from the car as it sped past him. The driver and passenger, Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams, did not pull over as police tried to apprehend them. The pursuit ended in the parking lot of a middle school, shortly before 11pm.
According to the Ohio investigative report, Brelo said he heard “shots fired!” on the police radio as he arrived at the scene. He then joined the police barrage on the vehicle, then climbed on to the hood of a patrol car to gain a better vantage. As the Malibu rolled to a stop near the cruiser, other officers ceased shooting. Brelo jumped on to the hood of the Malibu and continued firing his weapon downward through the windshield.
Brelo fired 49 shots. In all, police fired 137. Investigators found no weapon in the vehicle. Russell was shot 23 times; Williams 24 times.
The six people indicted pleaded not guilty. Eight white officers involved in the chase sued Cleveland for racial discrimination. In November 2014 the city settled a suit with the families of Russell and Williams, awarding them $3m to split.
The US Justice Department upbraided Cleveland’s police force in a 2014 report that found it “chaotic and dangerous” and prone to use “excessive and unreasonable force” in hundreds of instances. The report did not include analysis of the killing of Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was shot dead in November, seconds after a police officer arrived on the scene. Rice held a toy gun at the time; a 911 caller had reported a “probably fake” firearm.
Cleveland’s mayor, Frank Jackson, who agreed to the Justice Department review, said after its December release that he disagreed with its findings. Jackson said the findings were too harsh, and the city would perform its own review.
“Do we have problems?” he asked. “Yes. Do we have systemic failures? No.”
