CLEVELAND — The City of Cleveland and Giant Eagle are facing a federal lawsuit over a 2021 shooting outside one of the supermarket's stores.
We don’t just report the initial story—we follow through to its conclusion. Read and watch our previous reporting on this story below and see more stories that we've followed through on here.
Cleveland police officer Robert Taylor is also named in the lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio Monday. According to the lawsuit, Taylor shot and injured Melvin Robertson in the parking lot of the Giant Eagle on West 117th Street while working as a security guard for the store.
In an exclusive interview with News 5, Robertson said, "I absolutely think justice should be brought to the table."
"I didn’t commit no crime. I didn’t cause harm to nobody. I didn’t threaten nobody. No nothing," he said.
The lawsuit alleges the shooting was "unjustified, reckless, negligent, objectively unreasonable" and violated Robertson's rights under the Fourth Amendment, which protects people from unreasonable searches and seizures, and the Fourteenth Amendment.
The lawsuit also describes Taylor as "unfit." It alleges Giant Eagle was negligent in hiring and failing to supervise Taylor.
The lawsuit also alleges the City of Cleveland is also liable for the shooting, saying "unconstitutional policies, practices and customs of the City of Cleveland directly caused the constitutional violations suffered by Robertson."
News 5 Investigators reached out to the City of Cleveland for comment. In an email, Chief Communications Officer Director Sarah Johnson responded, "The City has not received a copy of the lawsuit yet and we do not comment on pending litigation."
Surveillance video
The lawsuit says Robertson was shopping at the store when his cousin "tried to start an argument with him" on August 2, 2021.
It says Robertson's cousin told Taylor that Robertson had a gun on him.
Even though the lawsuit alleges Taylor did not have probable cause, surveillance video from Giant Eagle shows Taylor following Robertson out of the store and attempting to stop him.
After catching up to Robertson, the video then shows Taylor begin to grab his gun. Robertson, with his hands in the air, runs away.
The lawsuit alleges Taylor then fires a shot at Robertson. It missed but caused Robertson to trip and a gun fell from the waistband of his pants.
After picking up the gun, the video shows Robertson continuing to run from Taylor.
Taylor then fired another shot at Robertson. This time, the bullet hit him in his right hip.
"It went through my pelvic bone and up into my stomach, but it hit in my pelvic bone," Robertson said. "I can’t walk the same no more. I can’t run the same no more."
It is unclear what Taylor saw during this incident. Cleveland does not require officers to wear their body-worn cameras when they work secondary employment.
The surveillance video was provided to News 5 by Friedman, Gilbert + Gerhardstein, the law firm representing Robertson.
You can watch the footage in the player below:
"Melvin did not pose a threat to the officer. Did not pose a threat to anybody else" said one of Robertson's attorneys, Terry Gilbert. "It was just a reckless and unjustified use of deadly force."
Corner Alley
The lawsuit is not the first time Cleveland taxpayers could be left on the hook for a police officer's actions off the clock.
In 2018, Cleveland police Sgt. Dean Grazioli was working security for The Corner Alley on the city's east side when he shot and killed Thomas Yatsko.
Yatsko's family sued The Corner Alley and the City of Cleveland.
The city settled the lawsuit for $750,000.
Moonlighting maintenance
Moonlighting is a popular practice among Cleveland police officers. As of April 21, 801 applications for secondary employment had been approved by police brass.
To prevent problems, Cleveland keeps tabs on moonlighting.
It limits how many hours officers can work off duty and where they can work secondary employment, including a ban on strip clubs and similar venues.
The city's policy also requires officers to apply for and receive approval from police brass before starting a second job.
Cleveland also disciplines officers who make mistakes while moonlighting.
We found 20 officers who got in trouble over a two-year period, including Commander Michael Butler. Among several charges, he was demoted for evading taxes related to his secondary employment at a private security company.
