Two police officers who fired 22 times in killing a man outside of his home in July broke no laws and were justified in their use of deadly force, according to the Summit County prosecutor’s office.
Officers Joseph Sidoti and Michael Miles were responding to a call of a man shooting outside of a house on Celina Avenue when they shot and killed Jeffrey Stephens, 42, on a sidewalk about 300 feet from his home.
“The issue is not the number of shots fired – in this case 22,” Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh wrote in a report clearing the officers. “Case law states that the issue is whether the force used by the officers was objectively reasonable because the officers were in eminent fear of death or serious physical harm.”
Stephens’ wife, Seata, called police the morning of July 5 to report that Reginald Valentine, 27, of Akron was shooting outside her home. Before police arrived, Jeffrey Stephens and his son, Jeffrey Jr., went looking for Valentine, according to police reports.
The officers spotted two men, which were Stephens and his son, walking on the sidewalk. Sidoti repeatedly ordered the men on the ground when police saw a gun in Stephens’ waistband, according to the report. more
