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WARREN -- The estate of Fred Henry Wild III, a man killed last year in a police-involved shooting has taken legal action against the officers who fired the shots that claimed his life.
The family is seeking damages of $25,000, alleging that the officers' use of deadly force against Wild was "not at all necessary to prevent his escape and make the arrest," in the suit filed Wednesday in the U.S. Northern District Court. The case will be heard by Judge Benita Y. Pearson.
As a result of the officers' conduct, the estate administrator, Mason Brumback, said Wild's 14th Amendment rights were violated, stating he was "deprived of the right to be secure in and free from unreasonable seizures of his person."
The suit states Wild was a "social guest" of the owners of the state Route 7 residence where Wild was shot and killed.
The lawsuit aims to hold police officers accountable who are listed as defendants in the court document: Vienna Township police officers Shane Smith and Jarett Pshotti; Trumbull County Sheriff's Office deputy Dennis Garito; Sgt. Jason Bonar of the Ohio State Highway Patrol; and Brookfield Township police Sgt. Cody Dean.
NIGHT OF THE SHOOTING
A news release from the Ohio State Highway Patrol said 50-year-old Wild was the only occupant of a stolen pickup that was attempting to flee the Route 7 property as police officers approached the night of March 21.
Officers from various departments were called to the Route 7 address about 1:04 a.m. to investigate a call about a man trespassing on private property.
Earlier on that night, a police chase that started in Lordstown ended at the railroad tracks on Merwin Chase Road in Brookfield,which is just southwest of the Route 7 property.
Reports state a suspect drove down the tracks and the vehicle got stuck.
The suspect then got out of the truck and ran, and authorities called off the search until that early morning 911 call about the suspicious person on the Route 7 property.
Officers from Lordstown, Vienna, Warren Township and Brookfield, along with highway patrol troopers and sheriff's deputies, were involved in the chase and the response to the Route 7 incident.
The report of the 911 call made by the concerned citizen stated a dangerous suspect was trespassing in a cabin. As officers approached the cabin, the man, identified as Wild, jumped out of the window and into a pickup that had a snowplow attached. The man failed to comply with verbal commands from police officers, the report states.
The man then drove the pickup at officers and, when he continued to ignore commands to stop, was fired upon by multiple officers holding duty weapons, according to a news release from the highway patrol. The release did not indicate how many times Wild was struck.
Brookfield Fire Department emergency medical services responded to the scene, where Wild was pronounced dead. No officers were injured in the confrontation, the report states.
For several early morning hours, state Route 7 was closed north of Route 82 while investigators processed the scene. As of 8 a.m., a sole Trumbull County sheriff's vehicle was sitting at the end of the driveway near Route 7. About 8:30 a.m., a state patrol aircraft flew overhead, circling the crime scene.
Wild's mother, Marie Wild, spoke to the Tribune Chronicle days after the shooting, saying her son was in a "whirlwind" the days leading up to his death.
She speculated that a lifetime battle with mental illness finally came to a head for her son. For years, she said he experienced highs and lows in coping with his health.
Oftentimes, Wild turned to alcohol as a deterrent for his internal struggles, using it as "self-medication," Marie Wild said.
She said she didn't know if her son intended to die at the hands of the police.
"I think he was tired of suffering and going through this," Marie Wild said. "He just didn't know how to deal with it anymore."