Change of plea hearing planned

Kirtland man accused of killing Mentor police officer

A change of plea hearing for the Kirtland man accused of striking and killing Mentor police officer Mathew Mazany is scheduled for March 1.

Brian Anthony, 25, is accused of striking Mazany and fleeing the scene around 1 a.m., June 24, 2018.

He pleaded not guilty at his June 25 arraignment.

Mazany, 41, was struck by a dark-colored Jeep as he was providing backup to another officer

for a traffic stop on state Route 2.

Based on some partial plate information obtained from the in-car camera, the Mentor Police Department was able to use technology and social media to check for similar vehicles in the Lake County area.

A person who had seen the police department’s photo of the suspect’s vehicle noticed a Jeep with damage parked in the Mentor Lagoons Marina and called officers. They traced it to a Kirtland resident who said that his son Anthony was using the Jeep and had not come home the previous night.

The father was contacted by his son and encouraged him to turn himself in to the police at the marina. Anthony was taken into custody on June 24.

Anthony was charged with second-degree aggravated vehicular homicide, second- and third-degree felony charges of failing to stop after an accident as well as misdemeanor charges of operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol, a drug of abuse or a combination of the two; and failing to proceed with due caution, and/or failing to change lanes when approaching a stationary public safety vehicle displaying emergency lights.

A trial for the case was scheduled to begin March 11.

He has been held in the Lake County Jail since June. His bond was originally set at $1 million with a 10 percent cash option. His attorney Richard J. Perez argued before Lake County Common Pleas Court Judge John P. O’Donnell in a July 31 hearing that Anthony’s bond was excessive based on his charges.

Perez sought to lower Anthony’s bond to $150,000, and O’Donnell ultimately reduced the bond to $750,000 with a 10 percent cash option. Anthony has remained in the jail in lieu of bond payment.

NEWS-HERALD FILE Brian Anthony, seated, the man accused of killing Mentor police officer Mathew Mazany in a hit and run crash, had his bond reduced July 31 to $750,000 with 10 percent cash option.