Family of man shot by officer demand policy change from Columbus police
The family and the attorney of a man wounded by Columbus police earlier this month spoke out Monday against a pilot gang enforcement unit and demanded police policy changes on use of force and family visitation of people shot by police.
Columbus police officer Joshua Ohlinger shot Michael Cleveland, 66, on Feb. 5 after a brief foot chase following an attempted traffic stop on the South Side.
Police rendered aid to Cleveland, who was taken to a hospital in critical condition. His attorney, Sean Walton, said at a press conference Monday that at least one bullet struck Cleveland in the spine, likely paralyzing him for life.
Lakeya Cleveland, Michael Cleveland’s daughter, said at the event that she has not been able to visit her father in the hospital due to a Columbus Division of Police policy that prevents visitation with people who were shot by police.
“Our family has been through a lot since this happened and we still not able to see my dad.” Lakeya Cleveland said. “So I just got one question: Why is it the man who’s running away has to get shot in the back?”
Walton said the family was demanding changes from the Division of Police and the city, including an end to the pilot gang enforcement program and a change to the visitation policy to allow family members of people shot by the police to visit them.
Walton said it was “cruel” that Cleveland is currently placed under 24/7 police guard at the hospital when he will likely be unable to walk in the future. Police guards are standard procedure in cases where criminal suspects are wounded or injured.
“Even after you shoot us, even after you shackle us, you continue to terrorize us,” Walton said.
The Dispatch earlier this month first revealed the existence of the new pilot gang enforcement unit. The Division of Police has previously had specialized units focused on gangs under “Safe Streets” and other initiatives that have resulted in controversy, such as the fatal shooting of Henry Green as well as a former vice unit that was disbanded amid scandal.
Walton said he believes the new gang unit will be used as a tool to racially profile Black residents of the city and instill terror.
“There’s been all these different names when they figure out a way to enforce whatever they feel like enforcing, under whatever the terms they want,” Walton said of previous iterations of Columbus police gang enforcement initiatives. “It’s meant to be intimidating.”
First Assistant Chief Lashanna Potts, who declined to be interviewed by The Dispatch prior to its story on the unit, told local TV stations that the new unit is needed to reduce crime in the city and said it would not be a “rogue unit” like the Memphis police SCORPION unit involved in the recent death of Tyre Nichols.
Walton and Cleveland’s family also called for the city to demand the Department of Justice review Columbus police for excessive use-of-force patterns, forbid officers like Ohlinger from returning to the streets during ongoing police shooting investigations, and for Ohlinger to resign and be charged with crimes related to the shooting.
Cleveland, who has a lengthy criminal record, was not legally permitted to have a firearm following a past felony drug conviction, police said.
“My father didn’t deserve that — I don’t care what type of picture they tried to paint of my father,” Lakeya Cleveland said.
Body camera video captured Columbus police officer Joshua Ohlinger shooting Cleveland as he ran from police with a gun toward Wilson Avenue on the South Side.
Ohlinger attempted a traffic stop around 3:05 p.m. Feb. 5 in the 1000 block of Wilson Avenue on the South Side, but Cleveland led the officer on a brief chase around a corner into an alley behind homes on Wilson. Police Chief Elaine Bryant said it was not clear what led to the traffic stop because Columbus police cannot interview Ohlinger since the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is investigating the shooting.
Police previously said Cleveland did not have any outstanding warrants for his arrest, although he had an expired license.
In the bodycam video, Cleveland can be seen running after exiting his vehicle. Ohlinger initially draws his stun gun, but after seeing Cleveland has a firearm Ohlinger draws his weapon. Within a moment after Ohlinger orders Cleveland to stop and put his hands up, the fleeing Cleveland appears to throw a firearm aside as Ohlinger fires his weapon at Cleveland’s back six times and Cleveland drops to the ground.
Body camera footage shows Cleveland was treated by officers on scene before he was taken to a hospital in critical condition, which was upgraded to stable.
Multiple officers were on scene, but Ohlinger was the only one who fired at Cleveland.
Bryant said during a press conference afterwards she was concerned over what could have happened given that beyond Cleveland when Ohlinger fired were a handful of people on Wilson Avenue who scrambled to get out of the way when they heard the gunfire. A faith-led march against violence had been passing through the area at the time.
Bryant said Ohlinger’s status at the division would be pending a psychiatric evaluation. Ohlinger was previously placed on leave for nearly three months after he shot a teenager with a gun during a traffic stop in August.
Ohlinger was taken off street duty for 89 days following that shooting and Ohio BCI was also called to investigate that shooting. Bryant said that shooting is still under investigation.
Walton said the culture of Columbus policing needs to change to prevent police shootings.
“That’s where we’re at — because they allow the officer who shot a 17year-old under questionable circumstances to get back out there with no resolution, and to again shoot and paralyze an elder in our community,” Walton said.
Colebehr_report Cbehrens@dispatch.com