CLEVELAND — Two deadly chases five months apart by the same Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s deputy were found to be within policy.
The old chase policy was overhauled last October after reporting by News 5 Investigators and public pressure.
A special prosecutor cleared Deputy Kasey Loudermilk of any criminal wrongdoing in both cases.
News 5 Investigators obtained copies of the administrative reviews for the chases involving the deaths of Sharday Elder last August and Tamya Westmoreland last March.
The findings show Loudermilk chased Jamone Whitaker, thinking he was a drunk driver with no headlights on.
Whitaker’s car slammed into Elder’s car at Addison and Superior, killing her.
The review shows the two-minute chase was within policy.
Loudermilk didn’t realize his body camera was in sleep mode until after the chase, and was given a copy of the body cam policy to review so it doesn’t happen again.
"You know the unfortunate part is the county sheriff and the county executive are in sleep mode, and maybe they need to be woken up by the voters,” Attorney Stanley Jackson said.
In March, Jackson filed civil lawsuits on behalf of Elder and Westmoreland’s families.
Wrongful death lawsuits filed in deputy chases.
"They’re hurt, they’re having these types of findings without any real accountability is very hurtful,” Jackson said.
Loudermilk chased Nigel Perry over heavy window tint and traffic violations. Perry slammed into Westmoreland at Eddy Road and I-90, flipping her SUV in a fireball over a bridge.
The in-house review shows supervisors believed the chase policy adequately guided deputies. But recommended reinforcing training on decision-making with emphasis on balancing risk vs. necessity.
"There needs to be some common sense with this man, but I don’t think that’s going to change. I think we’ll be back here again under a different circumstance in a decision he is going to make in the future,” Jackson said.
Last October, the chase policy was revised, allowing deputies to chase but only for violent felonies.
Deputy chase policy revised.
"The case was after we knew there was, is, some concern here. I wouldn’t say the calls for change were knocking on the door,” Sheriff Harold Pretel said.
Still, Sheriff Pretel stood by his old policy.
"As we always said, our policy was one of the best in the state,” Pretel said.
In February, County Executive Chris Ronayne said the crashes made the public wonder what kind of policy they have, so he asked the sheriff for a deep review.
"I wasn’t going to sit on my hands; I was going to do something about it. I did something about it. We got it done,” Ronayne said.
News 5 Investigators asked Ronayne whether the chase was made too late.
"That pursuit policy you deal with, when something happens twice, it becomes a pattern, and I think what we wanted to avert was a pattern in the future,” Ronayne said.
Jackson says he will get answers through the lawsuits.
"The trust in our community has completely eroded, and this circumstance and these findings are on par with what we’ve been feeling,” Jackson said.
Loudermilk still works at the sheriff’s department, now assigned to special operations in the criminal bureau.
