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Agency review finds policemen who shot man on Celina Avenue justified in use of deadly force
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
Published on Saturday, Sep 06, 2008
Two Akron police officers involved in the fatal July 5 shooting on Celina Avenue ''violated no criminal laws'' and were ''justified in their use of deadly force,'' authorities announced Friday.
The findings were released by Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh after an agency review of police reports, 911 calls, statements by the two officers, autopsy and ballistic evidence, and witnesses in the Celina Avenue neighborhood.
On July 10 — five days after the shooting — Akron Police Chief Michael Matulavich announced at a news conference that the officers shot Jeffery Stephens Sr., 42, after he reached for a gun in the waistband of his shorts and refused repeated commands to hit the ground.
Stephens was shot 22 times within seconds of refusing to heed those commands, Matulavich said.
Walsh's investigation, which clears the officers of any criminal charges by the state, came to the same conclusion.
The issue, according to Walsh's three-page investigatory report, was ''not the number of shots fired — in this case 22.''
Walsh said the issue — based on case law — was ''whether the force used by the officers was objectively reasonable because the officers were in eminent fear of death or serious physical harm.''
When Stephens disregarded the commands of the officers and reached for his gun, both officers ''had a reasonable basis to believe that Jeffery Stephens Sr. posed a threat of death or serious physical harm to each of them,'' Walsh said.
Matulavich said the incident began at 4:39 a.m. July 5, after Seata Stephens, the victim's wife, called 911 to report that someone was firing shots into the family's home at 1000 Celina.
Stephens Sr. and his son, Jeffery Stephens Jr., 20, were walking on Celina looking for a man who allegedly fired the shots when they were confronted by the officers.
Matulavich said officers Joseph S. Sidoti and Michael W. Miles were ''100 percent justified'' in using deadly force.
The chief noted that Stephens' son obeyed commands by the officers to hit the ground and was not harmed.
Reginald A. ''Reggie'' Valentine, 27, of the 400 block of Fernwood Drive in Akron, started the trouble that night, Matulavich said.
Valentine is being held in the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. He is charged with two felonies, illegal possession of a weapon and improper discharge of a firearm into a habitation, and other alleged offenses.
Walsh's investigation showed that Seata Stephens also had a gun and fired it at Valentine to scare him after Valentine fired shots ''outside the house . . . ''
Jeffery Stephens Sr. ''retrieved the gun from his wife,'' and he and his son then went looking for Valentine, Walsh said.
The series of shots fired by the officers, Walsh said, ''lasted for three seconds based on the sounds heard on the recorded 911 call'' of a woman at the scene.
''The physical evidence and autopsy report confirm that Jeffery Stephens Sr. was standing at the time the officers fired their shots,'' Walsh said.
Matulavich said in his July 10 news conference that one of the officers fired 12 times and the other fired 10 in a range of 5 to 8 feet from the victim.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Two Akron police officers involved in the fatal July 5 shooting on Celina Avenue ''violated no criminal laws'' and were ''justified in their use of deadly force,'' authorities announced Friday.
The findings were released by Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh after an agency review of police reports, 911 calls, statements by the two officers, autopsy and ballistic evidence, and witnesses in the Celina Avenue neighborhood.
On July 10 — five days after the shooting — Akron Police Chief Michael Matulavich announced at a news conference that the officers shot Jeffery Stephens Sr., 42, after he reached for a gun in the waistband of his shorts and refused repeated commands to hit the ground.
Stephens was shot 22 times within seconds of refusing to heed those commands, Matulavich said.
Walsh's investigation, which clears the officers of any criminal charges by the state, came to the same conclusion.
The issue, according to Walsh's three-page investigatory report, was ''not the number of shots fired — in this case 22.''
Walsh said the issue — based on case law — was ''whether the force used by the officers was objectively reasonable because the officers were in eminent fear of death or serious physical harm.''
When Stephens disregarded the commands of the officers and reached for his gun, both officers ''had a reasonable basis to believe that Jeffery Stephens Sr. posed a threat of death or serious physical harm to each of them,'' Walsh said.
Matulavich said the incident began at 4:39 a.m. July 5, after Seata Stephens, the victim's wife, called 911 to report that someone was firing shots into the family's home at 1000 Celina.
Stephens Sr. and his son, Jeffery Stephens Jr., 20, were walking on Celina looking for a man who allegedly fired the shots when they were confronted by the officers.
Matulavich said officers Joseph S. Sidoti and Michael W. Miles were ''100 percent justified'' in using deadly force.
The chief noted that Stephens' son obeyed commands by the officers to hit the ground and was not harmed.
Reginald A. ''Reggie'' Valentine, 27, of the 400 block of Fernwood Drive in Akron, started the trouble that night, Matulavich said.
Valentine is being held in the county jail in lieu of $10,000 bond. He is charged with two felonies, illegal possession of a weapon and improper discharge of a firearm into a habitation, and other alleged offenses.
Walsh's investigation showed that Seata Stephens also had a gun and fired it at Valentine to scare him after Valentine fired shots ''outside the house . . . ''
Jeffery Stephens Sr. ''retrieved the gun from his wife,'' and he and his son then went looking for Valentine, Walsh said.
The series of shots fired by the officers, Walsh said, ''lasted for three seconds based on the sounds heard on the recorded 911 call'' of a woman at the scene.
''The physical evidence and autopsy report confirm that Jeffery Stephens Sr. was standing at the time the officers fired their shots,'' Walsh said.
Matulavich said in his July 10 news conference that one of the officers fired 12 times and the other fired 10 in a range of 5 to 8 feet from the victim.
Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com.
Comments
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Akron, Oh
Posted 06:07 AM, 09/06/2008
Good and thanks for not letting the mob who protested against the shootings be the decision makers in our judicial system.
Akron, OH
Posted 06:09 AM, 09/06/2008
Hey Mayor Don... Why wasn't your (waste of tax dollars) "Independent Police Auditor" standing side by side with Sherri Bevan Walsh yesterday to affirm your administration's agreement that the action of these officers was "objectively reasonable"???
Posted 06:53 AM, 09/06/2008
I'm not sure if I like this new commenting system. So when do the comments get posted? How long does it take?
Akron, OH
Posted 07:24 AM, 09/06/2008
Good for the prosecutors office. I agree OV, where was that IPA that we are spendin' money on. He should have been there to affirm what the prosecutor's office had to say. Mebbe he and the city hall hero were out tippin' a few.
Tallmadge, OH
Posted 07:56 AM, 09/06/2008
The results of the investigation are good for the APD. These officers did nothing wrong and deserve to serve and protect the citizens of Akron.
Posted 09:23 AM, 09/06/2008
No surprise here. You pull a gun on a cop and you deserve to get shot. And I don't care if the shot him 22 times or 222 times. The shooting was justified.
Posted 10:08 AM, 09/06/2008
Scooter Moonpie is not going to like this change....Living in New Franklin is "never having to change!"
Posted 10:59 AM, 09/06/2008
I would like to commend our fine police officers. They traveled into hostile territory and successfully defended themselves against a filthy savage.
Posted 12:29 AM, 11/15/2008
i think the officer's should sue the family of this dead man for causing them PDS!
