Cop who killed man after high-speed pursue won’t face charges
CLEVELAND (AP) — An Ohio officer who shot an unarmed driver after a high-speed pursue earlier this year will not be charged.
A grand jury on Tuesday declined to indict Strongsville Officer Jason Miller in the shooting of 37-year-old Roy Evans Jr. after hearing evidence from a county prosecutor.
Police dispatch logs demonstrate the pursue began early morning on March seven and ended fourteen minutes later after Evans’ van went across spike stripes laid across a highway. Dashcam movie shows Miller shooting Evans within seconds after opening his door.
Evans’ gf and her three children also were in the van but were not harmed. No one answered at phone numbers listed for Evans’ parents and gf, and it was unclear whether there is an attorney signifying the family.
Strongsville Police Chief Mark Fender said he respects the prosecutor’s decision to present Miller’s case to a grand jury and "expected the decision that they reached." Strongsville Police are conducting an internal review of the case, he said.
Miller could not instantly be reached for comment.
Police radio records showcase the very first call was logged shortly before Two:30 a.m. It indicated an officer attempted and failed to stop a van in Strongsville, about twenty miles south of downtown Cleveland, and that pursuit speeds quickly reached one hundred mph. The officer reported that the van was traveling with no headlights on and smoke coming from the engine.
Minutes later, an officer said the Ohio State Highway Patrol was setting up spike strips. The dispatch report said the van ran over the spike strips at more than ninety mph.
Dashcam movie shows two police cruisers boxing in Evans’ van, with Evans striking a cruiser. It then shows Miller and another officer approaching the van with guns drawn. Miller opens the driver’s door, and two shots are heard seconds later. Minutes later, a child is heard blubbering on the movie.
Authorities say the Strongsville officers said Evans wouldn’t go after orders and appeared to reach for something. Radio records showcase an officer said a balding man was reportedly seen "reaching down below, lighting a cigarette."
Evans had a long criminal history. In 2004, he was sentenced to prison for violating and injecting, grand theft of a motor vehicle, and vehicular onslaught, among other charges, and in two thousand fourteen he spent two years in prison on two counts of felonious brunt.
The criminal investigation into Miller is now closed, tho’ Miller still could face discipline from Strongsville police. An investigative summary from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation wasn’t instantly made available to reporters.
The grand jury’s decision came on the same day as a separate grand jury’s decision to clear another northeast Ohio officer of all charges in a shooting death. Euclid Officer Matthew Rhodes was cleared of all charges after shooting and killing Luke Stewart, 23, after a fight to build up control over a moving car in March.
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