By Ed Gallek
EAST CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) -
We've learned two police
officers involved in an East Cleveland shooting lost their jobs there, but both
have found new jobs elsewhere and are carrying weapons again.
Back in 2012, two East Cleveland
officers fired 11 shots into a car during a traffic stop. They said the driver
backed into their car twice.
The East Cleveland mayor
allowed Brandon Smith to resign.
But the mayor fired Matthew
Ferrell. In a termination letter, the mayor called the gunfire “clearly
excessive,” and said there appeared to be “a total disregard for the safety of
others.”
Yet, we've confirmed Smith is
now in the Cleveland Police Academy. He is becoming an officer in Cleveland
even as that department is under review by the feds for use of force.
Ferrell is now working as a
security officer carrying a gun for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District,
protecting the regional sewer system.
The head of the system, Julius
Ciaccia, says he's aware of the East Cleveland shooting. He told us, Ferrell
“divulged it on his own.” He thought it was “worth taking a chance” on him, and
he's been a “good employee.”
Ciaccia and the lawyer for
Smith point out state investigators did not find excessive force was used in
East Cleveland. But the driver in that case just won a civil lawsuit over it.
As for Cleveland Police, we've
been trying to get a response. We're still waiting.
