CLEVELAND, Ohio -- A Cuyahoga County grand jury Friday indicted six Cleveland police officers for their roles in a 2012 police chase and shooting that left two people dead and carved deep schisms into the community.
The grand jury charged Patrolman Michael Brelo with two counts of voluntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony. The panel also accused five supervisors of dereliction of duty: sergeants Randolph Dailey, Patricia Coleman, Jason Edens, Michael Donegan and Lt. Paul Wilson, Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy McGinty said.
Brelo has been suspended without pay, while four supervisors have been placed on restricted duty. Donegan was fired last year.
Brelo fired 49 shots at a 1979 Chevrolet Malibu. He fired his Glock handgun more than any of the 13 officers who unloaded 137 shots at the car, after a 23-minute chase that began at the Justice Center in Cleveland and ended in an East Cleveland middle school.
Timothy Russell, 43, and Malissa Williams, 30, were killed Nov. 29, 2012. They did not have a weapon on them at the time of the shooting.
"This is a historic event,'' said Paul Cristallo, an attorney for the Russell family. "Prosecutors have indicted an officer for manslaughter in an excessive force case. That just doesn't happen.''
Terry Gilbert, who has sued Cleveland police officers in several excessive forces cases in the past several years and represents Russell's estate, agreed: "It is unprecedented that a police officer in Cleveland gets indicted for manslaughter. I'm encouraged by it, but we have to let the process take its course.''
But Patrick D'Angelo, an attorney for the union, lambasted the prosecutor and the indictment. He said McGinty's office had the benefit of hindsight, spending about 18 months dissecting the movements of Brelo made in seconds.
"His rendition of the facts is a gross distortion of the reality of the dangerous events that Officer Brelo faced," D'Angelo said. "He is using soundbites to fit his theory of the case."
More than 60 police cars joined the chase that reached speeds of more than 125 mph after an officer reported hearing shots fired from the Malibu as it sped past the Justice Center. Authorities later said the sound was likely the older model car backfiring.
The chase funneled into a parking lot at Heritage Middle School, and soon a volley of gunfire began. The first officer to fire his gun told investigators that he thought the Malibu was about to strike him. Other officers mistakenly believed the car's occupants were firing at them. All 13 who fired their weapons told investigators they feared for their lives.
Since that night, Cleveland police and state authorities have investigated every aspect of the case. McGinty's office presented the case and dozens of witnesses, including many police officers, to the grand jury.
On Friday, McGinty said that after officers fired more than 100 shots at the car, Brelo started shooting again and fired at least 15 shots, including fatal ones, downward through the windshield into the victims at close range as he stood on the hood of Russell's car.
"This was now a stop-and-shoot, no longer a chase-and-shoot,'' McGinty said. "The law does not allow for a stop-and-shoot.''
McGinty cited the U.S. Supreme Court ruling this week involving a shooting by police in Tennessee that found officers had a right to use excessive force during a police chase that endangers the lives of residents.
He said the high court's opinion makes clear that officers cannot initiate another round of shots after the initial shots end the threat of flight.
"Let's be clear what happened here,'' McGinty said about the case. "(Russell) was fully stopped. Escape was no longer even a remote possibility. The flight was over. The public was no longer in danger because the car was surrounded by police cars and 23 police officers in a schoolyard safely removed from pedestrians and traffic.
"The primary danger facing the police at this time was from themselves, if they continued to shoot at each other in the circular firing squad they had inadvertently formed. After the ceasefire, Officer Brelo unleashed an unlawful, second barrage of shots.''
McGinty said supervisors failed to control and manage the chase, ignoring their own training.
"These supervisors allowed a disturbed, petty criminal to take charge and lead a large portion of the Cleveland police force that was on duty that evening -- and to unnecessarily endanger motorists and citizens in two cities.''
He said the supervisors ignored their training, putting the public and their own officers at risk.
City officials accused of the five supervisors of a number of allegations. In documents, city officials said:
• Donegan, who was fired last year, was in a position to help in the chase, but he pulled out of it and parked his police car near a city park and "abdicated your responsibility as a sector supervisor. While parked, you failed to offer any guidance or support to officers under your direct supervision."
• Coleman, a veteran of more than 25 years, took an active, aggressive role in the pursuit, as she and another officer followed Russell's car closely, but city officials said she failed to offer information on the size and scope of the pursuit.
• Dailey monitored the chase closely, but city officials said he failed to make any inquiries of officers chasing the car about the number of officers involved. The city said he also failed to analyze the situation properly.
• Wilson, the city said, failed to tell dispatchers that about 20 officers were involved. Authorities said that based on Wilson's own testimony during a hearing, "you failed to communicate with anyone nor did you take any supervisory action."
• Edens, the city said, was not aware that personnel under his command took part in the chase, nor did he make any inquiries as to their statuses. He was riding in a car with his supervisor, Wilson. He did not advise dispatchers of his role in the chase or tell late-responding cars to stop the chase.
Capt. Brian Betley, the leader of the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents police supervisors, said he was disappointed in the grand jury's findings.
McGinty said his office did not recommend any charges against the other 12 officers who fired shots.
Also Friday, McGinty said the job of detailing what took place was made much more difficult because Cleveland police cars lack video dash cameras. He said the cost of investigating the case will far exceed the cost of purchasing the cameras.
Long before the grand jury was assembled, Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine released reports on the case and called the shooting deaths the result of a "systemic failure" within the department.
Besides the grand jury, police union leaders and attorneys for the families of Russell and Williams also have scrutinized the case.
Both have pointed to a failure of departmental leadership and lack officer training as a factor in the case. The issue is part of a U.S. Department of Justice probe into the department's use of force against citizens.
In a statement Friday, Williams' family said they were grateful for the work of prosecutors. But more importantly, they stressed that it was a time of healing.
"We would like to reiterate that this is an opportunity for the community to collaborate and come together -- not to be divided," the family said through its attorneys, David Malik and Tyrone Reed.
"Now is the time for us to join and have positive dialogue about solutions. We need to figure out how the police department can work better with the community and not against them."
Plain Dealer Reporter Rachel Dissell contributed to this report.