CLEVELAND — For the third day in a row, a Euclid police officer testified in his civil trial at the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. Luke Stewart's family sued Officer Matthew Rhodes for wrongful death after he shot and killed 23-year-olld Stewart on March 13, 2017.
13.9 mph
Marcus Sidoti, an attorney for Stewart's family, said Stewart was driving at an average speed of 13.9 mph when Rhodes decided to use deadly force against Stewart.
Rhodes said he shifted the vehicle into neutral after Stewart started driving away.
Rhodes had climbed into the car with Stewart, who was asleep inside, after responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle on South Lakeshore Boulevard.
Rhodes did not disagree that 13.9 mph was the average speed during the incident.
He previously testified that he feared the car would crash into a telephone pole.
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"That threat is very real," he testified Thursday. "I thought we were going to hit a pole."
'Protecting... the poop out of you'
Euclid Police Captain Mitch Houser also testified Thursday about training Rhodes received when he joined the department.
Houser said he signed off on the cartoon and caption on the cover of the city's 2017 Defensive Tactics Training manual.
The cartoon shows an officer beating an unarmed person with a baton.
The caption says, "Protecting and serving the poop out of you."
"I felt that it was an attempt at humor and satire," Houser said. "It's a very serious subject and I felt that beginning the training with a little bit of a lightheartedness might ease the training day."
Serious red flags
News 5 Investigators first showed viewers the cover in 2018 as part our investigation into Euclid's use of force incidents.
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The report identified 13 officers who were responsible for 83% of the uses of force during the two-and-a-half-year time period we reviewed.
Rhodes was one of the 13 officers.
He reported 14 uses of force between January 2016 and June 2018.
Previous cases
A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit Stewart's family filed against Rhodes and the City of Euclid in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio.
A Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to indict Rhodes on criminal charges for Stewart's death.
Euclid police promoted him to sergeant earlier this year.
Cuyahoga Common Pleas Judge Shannon Gallagher canceled court Friday.
Rhodes' trial is expected to wrap up and go to the jury Monday.
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Euclid police officer describes 2017 fatal shooting during civil trial
