Grand jury declines to charge Beachwood police officer who shot at a shoplifting suspect
Officer Blake Rogers remains on paid-administrative leave more than after the incident.
By Hannah Catlett and Misty Stiver | October 10, 2020 at 1:34 PM EDT - Updated October 10 at 11:30 PM
BEACHWOOD, Ohio (WOIO) - A Beachwood police officer who shot at a shoplifting suspect in June of 2019 will not face criminal charges.
The Ohio Attorney General's office presented evidence in the case to a Cuyahoga County grand jury this week.
The group decided that Officer Blake Rodgers did not break the law, as he fired these shots at a 19-year-old accused of stealing a hat from Dillard's at Beachwood Place.
Roger's attorney, Kimberly Kendall-Corral, told us back in July that the dash camera video is only part of the investigation.
The rest of the evidence, she says, paints a fuller picture of what happened-- evidence in the state's incident report that the public has yet to see.
19 Investigates has been covering this case for months-- not necessarily because of the shooting itself, but because we discovered this summer that the city had Officer Rodgers still sitting on paid administrative leave more than a year after the incident.
After the grand jury's decision came out this week, Kendall-Corral gave 19 Investigates the following statement:
However, even after the jury's decision his employment status remains the same. He's still on paid administrative leave right now.
The city of Beachwood released a statement saying in part,
The city's internal investigation procedure is now under review by the city council after our questions about the timeline of this case.
Beachwood says the internal investigation and Rodger's employment status is now in the hands of the new police chief.
Chief Kelly Stillman has barely been in office for two weeks now.
Beachwood Mayor Martin Horwitz said, "I have instructed Chief Stillman to make this a top priority and I am hopeful we will have his Department's report within the next 14 days."
Misty Stiver
Investigative Producer
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