CLEVELAND — News 5 investigators have confirmed Cleveland police have launched an internal investigation after a man crashed his car into the undercarriage of a semi, while fleeing police.
Michael Yearout, 39, was killed in the Feb. 19 crash at West 117th and Bellaire in the Village of Linndale, according to Ohio State Highway Patrol.
OSHP confirms Yearout was pursued by Cleveland Police at some point before Yearout ran a red light and smashed into the semi.
The crash was captured on multiple surveillance cameras at surrounding businesses.
A small portion of the pursuit was also caught on camera while both Yearout and the police officer were driving at what appeared to be slow speeds.
A family wants answers
Yearout's family members say he was a father of six on his way to work the morning of the crash. His friend was following him in a different car that morning, and told family members the pursuit happened after Yearout realized he was about to make an illegal left, and then corrected himself.
“He didn’t really make the whole turn he backed up he realized I can’t turn," Yearout's Father, Gregory said.
"It devastated all of us," said Yearout's father. "We're all just (asking) why?"
Family members went to the scene of the crash that morning.
"The cops told me that the cops was chasing him and they called it off," Yearout said. "How far did you chase him that's what I'd like to know."
The internal investigation
An internal memo uncovered by the News 5 Investigators says, “a member of the Division of Police was engaged in a pursuit without it being called in which resulted in a fatal crash in Linndale.”
In the memo, it says the Cleveland police department notified the federal monitoring team, which oversees Cleveland’s consent decree, about the incident. News 5 reached out to Hogan Lovells, Cleveland's monitoring team, but has not heard back.
Through a public records request, News 5 obtained an email sent from law director Mark Griffin to head monitor Karl Racine. It confirms Cleveland internal affairs is investigating a "possible pursuit" related to a fatality but did not mention whether there was concern over the pursuit being "called in."
A city spokesperson said the officer's name would not be released at this point in the investigation.
News 5 has requested body camera, which was also not made immediately available.
