Floyd County police officer cleared in 2019 shooting
♦ A GBI report says the task force agent was justified in returning fire.
A Georgia Bureau of Investigation report confirmed a Floyd County police officer was justified in his use of force after coming under fire during a May 2019 raid.
“Based on the totality of the evidence in this matter I concluded there is absolutely no evidence of criminal activity or wrongdoing by Officer Carlos Ribot-aviles for his use of force on May 23, 2019, on Michael Spears,” stated Rome District Attorney Leigh Patterson in a letter sent to Police Chief Mark Wallace.
Wallace, contacted Wednesday, said he felt that, based on the evidence presented in the report, Ribot-aviles acted properly when he, alongside members of the entry team, were fired upon.
The GBI investigation concerned a Rome-floyd Metro Task Force execution of a no-knock search warrant at Spears’ residence at 1933 Kingston Highway. According to the report: The scope of that warrant concerned the seizure of weapons believed to be at the home.
“Officers knew Spears to be a convicted felon, a member of Gangster Disciples gang, and involved, both as perpetrator and victim, in drive-by shooting incidents in the two months preceding the execution of the search warrant,” the report stated.
Several vehicles, including a Rome-floyd SWAT Bearcat armored vehicle and several marked patrol cars, activated their emergency lights as they entered the driveway.
The entry team arrived carrying a battering ram, announcing “police search warrant” loudly, and attempted to breach the door twice before it opened.
That was when two gunshots were heard from inside the residence. Ribotaviles shot back five times after seeing “one unclad individual moving around in the house.” No other officers discharged their weapons.
After gunfire subsided, an announcement on the Bearcat’s loudspeaker called for Spears to exit the residence.
A short while later, Spears came out and told police he’d been shot in the buttocks. Ribot-aviles administered medical aid to Spears, applying pressure to the wound until an ambulance arrived. Ribot-aviles surrendered his service weapon pending the investigation.
Another person, Amanda Nails, was also in the residence at the time of raid. She was unharmed but arrested on methamphetamine and gun charges and later convicted on a meth trafficking charge as well as a possession of methamphetamine charge concerning the incident.
One of the entry team members, Sgt. Williams Schwartz, rode in the ambulance with Spears. Spears told Schwartz he didn’t realize that it was police who were breaking open his door.
During that ride, according to the report, Spears told Schwartz “I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was ya’ll. I got people trying to kill me.”
“This statement strains credulity,” the letter stated.
It later says “Spears had a multi-camera system around his home that projected in real time onto a big screen TV in his living room. It is disingenuous for Spears to try to convince anyone that he did not know police were at his house. “
Spears has remained in jail without bond since the incident. He faces numerous state-level charges, including seven counts of aggravated assault on an officer and charges of possession of methamphetamine, possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
He also faces federal charges stemming from the incident.
Since his arrest, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia indicted Spears on charges that he, as a convicted felon, was in possession of a Smith & Wesson SD40 VE pistol as well as over 50 grams of methamphetamine.