MANSFIELD — A U.S. District Court Jury found Richland County Sheriff’s Deputy Raymond Frazier not liable for the death of Brian Garber during an officer-involved shooting on March 16, 2014, according to a press release issued Friday from Sheriff Steve Sheldon.
“I am very pleased with the verdict and appreciate the jury’s close review of the facts presented in the case,” Sheldon said. “Deputies of the Richland County Sheriff’s Office are well trained and finally these deputies have been vindicated.
“Nonetheless losing a life is a tragedy and our condolences and prayers go out to the Brian Garber family.”
Sheldon has maintained that after an internal investigation, an outside investigation by the Bureau of Criminal Investigation under the Attorney General’s Office and a review by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor that his deputies followed policy and procedures in this incident and that they did nothing wrong.
On April 5, 2017, U.S. District Court Judge Dan Poster handed down an order permitting the estate of Brian Garber to proceed against RCSO deputies Raymond Frazier, James Nicholson, and Andrew Knee.
According to Maj. Joe Masi, Nicholson and Knee were dismissed from the suit.
“Judge Polster’s decision noted that the Court was ‘in the unusual situation where the testimony of all three deputies involved in the deadly shooting contradicts the objective facts of the event,’ and that a ‘court may not simply accept what may be a self-serving account by’ law enforcement officers in the aftermath of a deadly shooting,” read a statement by Friedman & Gilbert, Cleveland attorneys for the Garber family. “Judge Polster’s decision acknowledged that ‘because Brian Garber was unarmed and produced no pop, the Court can only conclude that one of the deputies fired the first shot and that none of the deputies fired in response to any gunshot sound from Brian Garber.’ “
Sheriff Steve Sheldon released a statement at that time in support of his deputies.
“We are pleased that the District Court narrowed the parties and the issues to be presented at trial,” Sheldon said. “We continue to support our fine deputies and look forward to commenting on this matter once the case has been concluded.”
On March 19, 2014, officers were called multiple times to the Garber home. They found Garber, who may have been suffering from a mental health episode, in his room. After shouts were exchanged Garber was shot 14 times. Later, it was determined the 28-year-old was unarmed.
The officers were placed on eight-day administrative leave but were eventually cleared of charges after a Special Prosecutor was called in to investigate the case.
“The three Richland County Sheriff’s Deputies who shot 28-year-old Brian Garber to death were justified in their use of deadly force and will not face criminal charges,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Timothy J. McGinty stated in November, 2014. “After hearing the evidence, the grand jury voted to no-bill a series of potential charges and the investigation is now closed.”
According to authorities, on March 19, 2014 Garber’s wife Sara Knowlton called 9-1-1 twice looking for assistance at the Mill Run Road home in Lexington.
In Knowlton’s second 9-1-1 call, she stated Brian was “beating his mother and strangling me.” Both women filled out a domestic violence packet to have charges filed against Garber. Knowlton also called 9-1-1 again to tell dispatchers that Brian had just texted her to say he had a gun.
“Just so you know I have a gun now too … so don’t (F) with me!!!!,” the text message read.
Upon entering Connie and Matthew Garber’s home, deputies found Garber sitting in an upstairs bedroom where he refused to show his hands and “immediately stated he had a gun,” an incident report stated.
“At that point, even before they encountered Brian Garber in his bedroom, all of the deputies on the scene had an objectively reasonable belief that they were about to encounter a violent individual who was likely high on drugs, who had previously assaulted his mother and wife, and who now had armed himself with a gun,” said James Gutierrez, Cuyahoga County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney.
It was determined that Garber did not have a gun but, “all three deputies saw a rectangular-shaped object under his shirt,” the report said.
Investigators concluded that Garber’s statements and actions prior to the encounter with the deputies, as well as his refusal to follow police commands to show his hands and his brandishing of an object he claimed was a gun, demonstrated a significant likelihood that Garber intended to provoke the deputies’ use of deadly force.
“With the benefit of hindsight, it is possible that this incident could have been handled differently,” the report said. “Nevertheless, the law provides a clear standard to analyze police officers’ use of deadly force.”
