MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — The family of a man shot and killed by a Maple Heights police officer following a high-speed chase in the early morning hours of Memorial Day is calling for greater transparency as the investigation into the officer’s use of force continues. Datwuan Catchings, 22, was shot one time by a Maple Heights police officer and was later pronounced dead at the hospital on May 30.
Stanley Jackson of the Cochran Law Firm joined Catchings’ family and loved ones for a press conference on the front steps of Maple Heights City Hall Thursday morning. In his remarks, Jackson described the police action shooting as an unjust use of force. Jackson also lambasted the Maple Heights Police Department and city officials for not releasing the identity of the officer that fired the fatal shot as well as other public records related to the incident.
“We want the City of Maple Heights to be transparent in releasing all information on the officers that were involved, all body cams and video, and all the discipline records of the officers involved,” Jackson said. “Those are things that are public records that should be shared. That is our concern. We have a right to that. The public has a right to it and most importantly the family has a right to it.”
Jackson also revealed what he believes to be the name of the officer involved in the police action shooting. However, News 5 has not been able to independently verify the officer’s identity. News 5 has reached out to Maple Heights police for confirmation but have not yet heard back.
Just after 4 o’clock in the morning on May 30, police were dispatched to the 15300 block of Fernway Drive to respond to a drive-by shooting. Neighbors reported the shooter or shooters fired at least two dozen rounds into the home as well as the house next door. At least one person was injured. Additionally, neighbors said that at least one shot narrowly missed a child sleeping in the front bedroom of the neighboring home. Fearing retribution, neighbors did not want to be identified.
A few minutes after the shooting, police reporting seeing a car matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle and initiated a pursuit.
In early June, Cleveland police released an abbreviated version of the body camera video showing the police action shooting. On Thursday, Jackson, the family attorney, released an extended version of the same video, depicting the roughly 10-minute high-speed pursuit leading up to the shooting as well as the minutes that followed it. Jackson would not divulge where he obtained the video.
In the extended version of the body camera video, the pursuing officer can be heard calling out the speeds in which the suspect’s vehicle was traveling, eclipsing 80 mph and, for a brief moment, close to 100 mph. The chase, which occurred shortly before 4:30 in the morning, occurred at a time when traffic was very light.
Kareem Henton and Latonya Goldsby of Black Lives Matter Cleveland attended Thursday’s press conference to demand more transparency and accountability, especially regarding police chases and those that enter into neighboring jurisdictions.
“There needs to be policy changes, laws and legislation put on the books to stop these chases and hold these officers accountable,” Goldsby said.
At one point during the pursuit, a dispatcher or supervisor can be heard saying over the radio that any Maple Heights officers that could catch up to the pursuit would have permission to pursue. Additionally, the dispatcher or supervisor said, “I need somebody to catch up to [the suspects].”
“‘We gotta have somebody catch up to him.’ That sense of urgency was put into that officer by the officer in charge,” Henton said.
As the pursuit weaved its way into Cleveland and the east side, Catchings, who was the driver of the vehicle, appeared to crash into a deer that had meandered onto the roadway. He lost control and careened into a bridge near East 93rd and Buckeye. The pursuing Maple Heights police officer then collided with Catchings’ vehicle, according to the body camera video.
A few seconds later, Catchings bailed from the vehicle and began running into a nearby vacant lot. At a June press conference, Cleveland police provided an annotated version of the body camera video that outlined the ‘right-angle-shaped object’ in Catchings’ hand as he began to run. What appears to be the same object can later be seen as Catchings attempts to jump a fence into a neighboring property.
As Catchings begins to scale the fence, he pivots away from the fence and briefly faces the officer for a split second. Then, body camera video shows Catchings turn back toward the fence. The officer fired one shot into Catchings’ abdomen.
According to the body camera video, Catchings then stumbles back toward the front of the home before collapsing.
“Anybody who has reason would then ask, ‘How was he a threat to that officer in that moment?” Henton said.
After handcuffing him, the officers then begin to administer first aid. The body camera video also shows an officer reportedly finding what they believed to be an extended magazine near Catchings body. Cleveland police said at the June press conference that a gun was found at the scene.
Catchings was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Sadrina Fields, Catchings’ mother, said her goal is to get justice for her son.
“Even though I buried him, I still haven’t come to reality that he’s gone,” Fields said.
When asked whether the law firm’s investigation has turned up any new information that would dispute the police department’s statements on why the pursuit was initiated, Jackson, the family attorney, said his primary concern centers around what happened before the pursuit — not before it.
“To be frankly honest with you, we’re not necessarily concerned about [what happened before the pursuit]. We’re concerned about what happened when Mr. Catchings is running away. Whatever proceeded that, proceeded it, to be frankly honest with you. Mr. Catchings was not a threat when he was fleeing,” Jackson said. “Whatever happened before that, he should have had to come to court if they were able to catch him or identify him and deal with those charges like anybody else in America.”
