Cleveland officials announced Tuesday that six officers were fired over their involvement in a deadly November 2012 car chase that ended with the involved officers firing 137 bullets at a car, killing an unarmed man and woman inside. The officers who were fired were identified by Detective Steve Loomis, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's Association, as Wilfredo Diaz, Brian Sabolik, Erin O'Donnell, Michael Farley, Chris Ereg and Michael Brelo, according to CNN.
Brelo, the only officer indicted in the incident, was previously acquitted of manslaughter charges in May for allegedly firing 49 of the shots. At the time, Cuyahoga County Judge John P. O'Donnell ruled that Brelo's use of force was permissible since he had reason to believe his life was in danger. Furthermore, he argued that it couldn't be proved that any of Brelo's shots were the fatal ones.
In addition to the firings, six other officers in the incident were suspended for 21 to 30 days, reported CBS' Cleveland affiliate WOIO-TV. They were identified as Scott Sistek, Cynthia Moor, Michael Rinkus, William Salupo, Randy Patrick and Paul Box.
The shooting in question occurred on Nov. 29, 2012, when officers standing outside police quarters in Cleveland mistook the sound of a beat-up Chevrolet Malibu, with Timothy Russell and Malissa Williams inside, backfiring as a gunshot, reported CBS News. The chase lasted 20 minutes, spanning 22 miles, with more than 137 shots fired through the windshield in the vehicle. At it's conclusion Russell was hit by 24 shots, Williams by 23.
A subsequent investigation found that 105 officers were involved in the pursuit which was the direct result of the police force engaging in patterns and practices of using excessive force and violating people's civil rights. Sixty-three of those officers were suspended for between one to 10 days, while five of the supervisors on duty at the time were charged with misdemeanors for failing to stop the chase and are awaiting trial.
Now with the punishments announced, Loomis vowed to fight them, which he described as politically motivated, and said grievances appealing the firings were filed on Tuesday.
"This is nothing but politics. I have every confidence in the world we're going to get their jobs back. I'm not going to stand for it," Loomis said.
