EUCLID, Ohio — Close to a dozen Euclid police officers accused of using excessive force or misconduct over the last decade remain on the city's payroll, according to an analysis by News 5 Investigators.
Update: watch officer Michael Amiott sentencing at 10 a.m.
To understand how the city of Euclid holds its police officers accountable, News 5 Investigators reviewed salary data, court records, and legal records related to police misconduct.
We found every officer involved in a legal settlement in the seven civil cases we reviewed, including a case involving deadly force, still works for Euclid, except one. Kyle Flagg is now employed by the Brunswick Police Department.
We repeatedly asked the City of Euclid what steps it has taken to retrain officers or prevent them from using excessive force in the future.
No one responded. When News 5 Investigator Sarah Buduson called and asked Capt. Mitch Houser, he hung up.
Resisting change
"That's a big problem," Daryl Langman said. "Transparency is key."
Langman was a member of Euclid's city council for 18 years.
"The idea that 'Well, okay, we're not going to tell the community how this officer is being retrained' is a disservice to the community," he said. "A while back some of us on council recommended that we bring in outside entities."
He said he wanted to hire experts, like the Police Foundation, to review the department's policies and procedures, and find ways to restore the community's trust in the department.
"That didn't go anywhere," he said.
Civil rights attorney Sarah Gelsomino represented the plaintiffs in three cases we reviewed.
"The city deserves better," she said. "The city deserves officers who are safe and who follow the rules."
"Euclid is small enough to make real change," she said. "It would not be hard to change the culture of that police department if Euclid cared enough to do so."
Richard Hubbard
Office Michael Amiott is one of ten officers involved in excessive force or misconduct cases who are still on the city's payroll.
Amiott was found guilty of one count of misdemeanor assault and one count of interfering with civil rights after a trial last summer. He was found not guilty of a second count of assault.
His conviction stemmed from an August 2017 traffic stop where he kicked and repeatedly punched Richard Hubbard as his girlfriend, Yolimar Tirado, screamed for Amiott to stop.
"I still feel like he actually, like, won, if he's still collecting paychecks," Hubbard said.
"At the end of the day, it still feels like it was just a slap on the wrist," Tirado said.
Langman said the city botched its attempt to fire Amiott after a bystander's video of the traffic stop went viral because the city failed to follow technical details in the police union contract.
"Because we didn't follow the protocols correctly, we weren't able to do it," he said.
Amiott kept his job, even though Hubbard's beating is not the only time Amiott has been accused of using excessive force. Amiott and Officer Shane Rivera were accused of beating Erimius Spencer. Spencer settled a lawsuit he filed for $40,000.
Hubbard and Tirado said the traffic stop and its aftermath changed their lives.
"I'm always rear-view driving now," Hubbard said. "That scene plays over and over in your head. You can't forget it."
After the beating, the couple relocated to a quiet neighborhood in Cleveland.
"We moved out of Euclid," Tirado said. "That should be a message enough as how it affected us."
Luke Stewart
Euclid police officer Matthew Rhodes shot and killed Luke Stewart in August 2017.
After the fatal shooting, Rhodes was promoted to sergeant.
"It's more than a slap in the face (to Stewart's family)," Gelsomino said.
She represented Stewart's family in a civil trial last fall.
The jury in the case awarded Stewart's family $4.4 million.
After the verdict was read, Stewart's mother, Mary, said the monetary award will help her family but not the grief she feels over the loss of her son.
"I'm not totally happy," she said. "Because, at the end of my day, when I go home, I see no Luke."
The cost of misconduct
Officers' bad behavior has also cost taxpayers. The seven civil settlements related to excessive force allegations and misconduct that we reviewed cost Euclid taxpayers $6,187,500 since 2013.
The settlements include $475,000 paid to Lamar Wright. Officers Vashon Williams and Kyle Flagg yanked Wright out of his car and tasered him in 2016. Wright was wearing a colostomy bag at the time because he recently had stomach surgery.
Williams is still on Euclid's police force. Flagg is now an officer for the City of Brunswick.
Shajuan Gray settled her civil rights lawsuit for $125,000. Euclid Police Officer James Aoki dragged her out of her apartment in a bath towel and arrested her over a noise complaint in 2017.
Aoki is also still on the city's payroll.
Hubbard and Tirado also sued the city after Amiott's beating. They settled for $450,000.
"I don't know what would end his career," Hubbard said. "I mean, it's caught on tape, blow for blow, punch for punch."
Tirado chimed in.
"How can you move forward from the past if the person that caused the damage is still working and just living life as normal?" she said.
Amiott will be sentenced at 10 a.m. Friday in Euclid Municipal Court.
View more of our investigations into the Euclid Police Department here.
