CLEVELAND — The Cuyahoga County Sheriff sat down with News 5 Investigators for the first time since two deadly chases killed innocent women, and one day after the county introduced a new, more restrictive chase policy.
Sheriff Harold Pretel called the deaths of the two women tragic, but he wasn’t going to move quickly to make changes.
Cuyahoga County announced the revised policy on Monday. News 5 Investigator Tara Morgan asked the sheriff what took so long, as calls for change went on for months.
“It had to be worked,” Pretel said.
Under the new policy, deputies can still chase, but only when it’s believed the person they’re after committed a violent felony, like a shooting, murder or kidnapping.
Cuyahoga County changes pursuit policy.
“A knee-jerk reaction can lead to quick decisions, probably not the best decisions. I think seeing it through to make the best suitable policy, taking that time was well worth it,” Pretel said.
But families of loved ones say it should have never gotten to this point.
“We are suffering without her,” Sharday Elder’s sister, Cearria, said last month.
BLM Cleveland issues demands for policy change.
Edler was killed in August when a deputy chased a suspected drunk driver who slammed into Elder at a red light.
Five months earlier, in March, a fiery crash killed another innocent woman, Tamya Westmoreland and the man the deputy chased over concerns about window tint and expired tags.
The same deputy was behind the wheel in both deadly chases.
“Ms. Westmoreland unfortunately passed in March of this year and five months later because this county, this county sheriff they didn’t do their job, the county executive didn’t do his job and because they didn’t Sharday Elder had to lose her life,” Attorney Stanley Jackson said.
Chase after chase, the sheriff firmly stood by his pursuit policy.
“As we always said, our policy was one of the best in the state,” Pretel said.
Only changing it now, as funding for this unit is questioned.
County council members call for the disbanding of Downtown Safety Patrol.
News 5 Investigators asked Pretel if the policy change was a way to ensure he doesn’t lose funding.
“No, the policy is not dependent on funding, the policy is dependent on community safety,” Pretel said.
Last month, Jackson, who is the attorney for the families, called the two deadly chases ill-advised and criminal.
We asked Pretel if his Downtown Safety Patrol was a danger to the community.
“The Downtown Safety Patrol is absolutely not a danger to the community, the Downtown Safety Patrol is a benefit to the community and not a danger to the community,” Pretel said.
Sheriff Pretel wouldn’t say much about Deputy Kasey Loudermilk, who was behind the wheel in both deadly chases, citing potential legal action.
But said Loudermilk was not retrained after the first crash, only reviewed the policy.
