Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick and Fort Shawnee Police Chief Benjamin Kehres discuss the findings of an independent Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation probe into the Jan. 15 fatal shooting involving two Fort Shawnee officers.

Take a look at the video: Lima News video by BOB BLAKE.

Cops cleared in shooting

Prosecutor: Killing justified, man had 12-inch knife

By BOB BLAKE

LIMA — There will be no criminal charges filed against two Fort Shawnee police officers stemming from the fatal shooting of a Cridersville man after a traffic stop last month, officials said Wednesday. The officers could soon be cleared to return to work.

Allen County Prosecutor Juergen Waldick said a grand jury this week declined to indict Officer Justin Bentz and Cpl. Darrell Fields in the Jan. 15 shooting of John T. Sowders, 20, in the 100 block of Olentangy Drive inside the Indian Village Mobile Home Park. Waldick said the shooting was justified because Sowders was charging at officers with a 12-inch-long hunting knife raised above his head and was threatening to kill officers at the time shots were fired.

The case was presented to a grand jury after an independent investigation by special agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation. Waldick said that investigation found the officers followed established protocol for the use of deadly force during the confrontation with Sowders.

“He was within 8 feet or so of the officer charging at the officer with a knife. The officer that was being charged discharged his weapon and initially thought he had shot the defendant,” Waldick said. “Turns out that, as I indicated, two almost simultaneous shots were fired and the bullet that actually struck the defendant was fired by the other officer who discharged his weapon two times.”

A total of three shots were fired during the confrontation, Waldick said. The fatal shot came from Fields, who fired twice. Bentz, the officer Sowders was charging, fired once but did not strike Sowders, Waldick said. Before the shooting, officers used a stun gun on Sowders numerous times, which had no effect.

Waldick said the traffic stop, around 3 a.m. Jan. 15, was initiated because the vehicle was operating erratically. Waldick said a subsequent toxicology report found that Sowders’ blood alcohol level was 0.24 percent — three times the legal limit in Ohio.

“We were definitely happy with their investigation,” Fort Shawnee Police Chief Benjamin Kehres said. “They did an extremely thorough job with their case as you can read from your packet.”

Waldick said Bentz and Fields remained on paid administrative leave, but could return to work soon.

“We’re still finishing up our internal [investigation] and from reading the case packet from BCI, I don’t see any reason that they’ll not be able to return,” Kehres said.

Some questions about what led Sowders, a man with no known criminal history, to lash out violently may never be answered, officials said.

Ohio BCI “went back and tried to determine what happened the 24 hours prior to this incident,” Waldick said. “They were able to establish it to a certain point but there were some holes in it that they simply weren’t able to establish where the deceased was during that time. It’s about a seven- to eight-hour period where they were not able to establish where the decedent was.”

Kehres acknowledged the day of the shooting that Fort Shawnee has cameras in its police cruisers but that the units are broken and were not operating at the time of the confrontation. Based on the state investigation, operating cameras would have caught the initial stop but not the shooting, which took place behind the cruisers, officials said.

“This event has been traumatic to the friends and family of the deceased, John T. Sowders, as well as to all the officers involved,” Waldick said. “Our thoughts and prayers have been and will continue to be with them.”

 Published in The Lima News: Feb. 17, 2011