Raimey v. City of Niles

• Docket Number: Case No. 4:20-cv-5
• Decision Date: 04 March 2022
• Citation: Raimey v. City of Niles, 676 F.Supp.3d 547 (N.D. Ohio 2022)
• Parties: Timothy A. RAIMEY, as Administrator of the Estate of Matthew Burroughs, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF NILES, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Northern District of Ohio

676 F.Supp.3d 547

Timothy A. RAIMEY, as Administrator of the Estate of Matthew Burroughs, Plaintiff, v. The CITY OF NILES, et al., Defendants.

Case No. 4:20-cv-5

United States District Court, N.D. Ohio, Eastern Division

Signed March 4, 2022

Andrew K. Jondahl, Earl S. Ward, Jonathan S. Abady, Vivake Prasad, Emery Celli Brinckerhoff Abady Ward & Maazel, New York, NY, Kevin C. Hulick, Nicholas A. DiCello, Spangenberg, Shibley & Liber, Cleveland, OH, for Plaintiff.

Andrea K. Ziarko, Gregory A. Beck, Melvin L. Lute, Jr., Baker, Dublikar, Beck, Wiley & Mathews, North Canton, OH, for Defendants City of Niles, Christopher Mannella, James Reppy, Paul Hogan, Jay Holland.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

SARA LIOI, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

This case arises out of the fatal police shooting of Matthew Burroughs ("Burroughs") near an apartment complex in Niles, Ohio. Burroughs' estate, through plaintiff Timothy A. Raimey ("plaintiff"), brought this action under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and state law against defendant the City of Niles (the "City") and the following members of the City's police department: Officer Christopher Mannella ("Officer Mannella"), Officer James Reppy ("Officer Reppy"), Officer Paul Hogan ("Officer Hogan"), and Chief of Police Jay Holland ("Chief Holland") (where appropriate, all defendants are collectively referred to as "defendants"). Defendants have moved for summary judgment. (Doc. No. 39 (MSJ).) The motion is fully briefed. (Doc. No. 44 (Opposition); Doc. No. 47 (Reply); Doc. No. 56 (Sur-Reply)¹.) For the reasons that follow, the motion is granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND²

As will be discussed in more detail below, portions of the pertinent events leading up to and including the shooting were recorded by the body worn camera ("BWC") of one officer— Officer Reppy.³ When video evidence exists clearly depicting all of the relevant facts, the facts are viewed "in the light depicted by the videos." See Gordon v. Bierenga, 20 F.4th 1077, 1079 (6th Cir. 2021) (quoting Latits v. Phillips, 878 F.3d 541, 547 (6th Cir. 2017) (citing Scott v. Harris, 550 U.S. 372, 380, 127 S. Ct. 1769, 167 L. Ed. 2d 686 (2007))). Where, as here, "the facts shown on video 'can be interpreted in multiple ways or if [the] videos do not show all relevant facts', [the court] view[s] those facts in the light most favorable to the non-moving party." Id. (citing Godawa v. Byrd, 798 F.3d 457, 463 (6th Cir. 2015)).

That said, many of the facts leading up to the shooting are undisputed. On January 2, 2019, Burroughs appeared in the Niles Municipal Building for the purpose of paying a fine. While municipal court personnel were processing the fine payment, the court's electronic docketing system alerted that there was an active warrant for Burroughs' arrest. (Doc. No. 39-6 (Affidavit of Todd Zickefoose) ¶ 3.) Probation Officer Todd Zickefoose ("P.O. Zickefoose") was nearby and was asked to stand by the lobby area to make sure that Burroughs did not leave while court personnel summoned a police officer. (Id. ¶¶ 3-4.) As he waited and watched, P.O. Zickefoose heard Burroughs state that he would "be right back" before he exited the building through the front doors. (Id. ¶ 5.) P.O. Zickefoose followed Burroughs and commanded him to stop, explaining that he needed to return inside the building because there was an active warrant for his arrest. (Id. ¶¶ 6-7.) P.O. Zickefoose pulled out his handcuffs and instructed Burroughs to place his hands behind his back. (Id. ¶ 8.) Burroughs asked P.O. Zickefoose why he was stopping him, and when P.O. repeated that Burroughs had an outstanding warrant, Burroughs took off down a hill and into the parking lot. (Id. ¶¶ 9-10.)

P.O. Zickefoose gave chase and caught up to Burroughs just as he was opening the door to a Ford Fusion parked in the lot. (Id. ¶ 11.) As Burroughs was getting into the car, P.O. Zickefoose grabbed Burroughs' arm and unsuccessfully attempted to pull him out. (Id. ¶ 12.) Burroughs started the car and put it in reverse, traveling at a high rate of speed. (Id. ¶ 13.) The car door hit P.O. Zickefoose in the midsection and knocked him down. (Id.; Doc. No. 39-3 (Deposition of Todd Nichols)⁴ at 5(9, 12).) P.O. Zickefoose was unhurt and was able to get back up as Burroughs backed out of the parking lot and headed off down a city street. (Doc. No. 39-6 ¶¶ 14-15.) Before Burroughs exited the lot, P.O. Zickefoose was able to get the license plate number of the vehicle. (Id. ¶ 16.) The probation officer ran back into the building and reported what had transpired. (Id. ¶ 17.)

Officer Hogan was in the Niles Police Department—which is located in the basement of the Niles Municipal Building—finishing some paperwork at the end of his shift, when he was advised by court personnel that they were having a problem with an individual who had an outstanding warrant. (Doc. No. 39-5 at 5(11-12).) He learned that the individual had run out of the front door, so Officer Hogan headed to his squad car to search for the individual. (Id. at 5(12).) As Officer Hogan was scouring the area in his patrol vehicle, he heard a radio report from dispatch advising that the individual had been identified as Burroughs and that he had struck a municipal employee before exiting the parking lot. (Id. at 6(13).) Officer Hogan was familiar with Burroughs, having previously responded to a complaint that Burroughs had struck a vehicle parked in the lot in front of the Royal Mall Apartments, where Burroughs lived. (Id. at 6(14).) Officer Hogan informed dispatch that he was heading to the apartment complex to look for Burroughs. (Id. at 6(15-16).)

Officer Mannella, who was working the day shift that morning, also heard the report from dispatch that an individual had fled the municipal building having fought with and struck a probation officer or a municipal court employee. (Doc. No. 39-4 at 10(32), 11(34).) He also remembers hearing a subsequent report identifying the individual as Burroughs. (Id. at 12(37).) Like Officer Hogan, he had some familiarity with Burroughs, having been aware that officers from the night shift had recently responded to a domestic violence incident involving Burroughs and his female roommate, wherein Burroughs allegedly threatened the female with a gun. (Id. at 10-11(32-33).) Officer Mannella further recalled that an FBI warning appeared on his vehicle's monitor advising that Burroughs had previously been involved in violent crimes against law enforcement. (Id. at 12(37, 39).) When he heard Officer Hogan's plan to look for Burroughs at his apartment, Officer Mannella decided to proceed to the apartment to back him up. (Id. at 11- 12(36-37).) Officer Mannella located Officer Hogan's cruiser en route and followed him into the area surrounding the apartment complex. (Doc. No. 39-5 at 6-7(16-17).) Officer Hogan drove around the complex while Officer Mannella exited his vehicle and canvassed the area on foot. (Id. at 7(18-19); Doc. No. 39-4 at 12-13(40-41).) Officer Mannella intended to go to Burroughs' apartment and warn Burroughs' female roommate that Burroughs was likely on his way back to the apartment. (Doc. No. 39-4 at 13(43-44).)

Meanwhile, Officer Reppy was one of the officers driving the streets near the municipal building looking for Burroughs. (Doc. No. 39-2 (Deposition of James Reppy) at 6(12).) He was also one of the officers who had responded to the prior domestic violence incident involving Burroughs and the female roommate. (Id. at 11-12(32-34).)⁵ He located the Ford Fusion driving in a residential area, heading westbound toward the apartment complex. (Id. at 7(13), 12(36).) Officer Reppy estimated that Burroughs was traveling 40 to 45 miles per hour, which he added was a high rate of speed for the area. (Id. at 7(14), 12-13(36-37).) Officer Reppy caught up to the Ford Fusion as Burroughs was approaching the apartment complex, noting that there was moderate to no traffic at the time. (Id. at 12-13(36-37).) As he was closing in on Burroughs' vehicle, another officer—Lieutenant Dan Adkins—came into his view, and Lieutenant Adkins called out to him pointing to the Ford Fusion as the vehicle for which they were searching. (Id. at 13(37).)

Given Burroughs' rate of speed and the fact that he was fleeing law enforcement, Officer Reppy decided to activate his BWC, which he wore over his sternum. (Id. at 13(38-39).) He was also concerned that the chase might turn into a foot race, and he did not want to have to remember to activate the camera later. (Id. at 13(39).) From the BWC, Officer Reppy can be heard advising Lieutenant Adkins, "Yeah, I've been chasing this guy for a while." (Id. at 13(39- 40).) He headed westbound down Royal Mall Drive towards the apartment complex in pursuit of Burroughs with Lieutenant Akins following closely behind. (Id. at 13(37).)

Officer Hogan testified that he was about ready to leave the apartment complex when he saw the Ford Fusion pull into the apartment complex, followed closely by two City police cruisers—those of Officer Reppy and Lieutenant Adkins. (Doc. No. 39-5 at 7-8(20-21).) Officer Hogan estimated that the Ford Fusion was traveling between 30 to 35 miles per hour as it entered the complex and drove toward the area where the officer was parked. (Id. at 8(22).) He added that Burroughs' speed was "[d]ecent but not over [the speed limit]." (Id.) Officer Hogan remembered that Officer Reppy had his overhead lights on at the time but did not remember a siren. (Id. at 8(22-23).) As the Ford Fusion approached the front of Officer Hogan's vehicle, Officer Hogan can be heard on Officer Reppy's BWC saying, "I don't think he's going to stop, Dan" (referring to Lieutenant Adkins). (Id. at 8(23).) Burroughs did stop and, when he did, his vehicle was "hood to hood" with Officer Hogan's cruiser. (Id. at 8(23).) Burroughs did not hit Officer Hogan's cruiser, and Officer Hogan conceded that Burroughs performed a "controlled" stop and did not appear to slam on his breaks. (Id. at 9(25-26...