By Sharon Coolidge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen cleared six Cincinnati police officers of criminal wrongdoing in the death of Nathaniel Jones, an intoxicated man who died after a violent struggle with officers trying to arrest him.

Allen will not present the case to a grand jury for review, he said during a Monday evening press conference.

MULTIMEDIA

• Video of Jones news conference • In-cruiser video of incident • White Castle security camera slideshow

"My office sees no evidence that any crime was committed by any police officer," said Allen, a former police officer.

Ohio's code of professional responsibility says prosecutors cannot seek criminal charges when they know, or when it is obvious, there is no probable cause that a crime was committed.

Jones, 41, died Nov. 30 when his enlarged heart gave out after a violent struggle with the six Cincinnati officers in the parking lot of a White Castle restaurant in North Avondale. The struggle was caught on police videotape and shown repeatedly on national television news.

Click to view or print a detailed timeline of the events leading up to Nathaniel Jones' death. (PDF, 130k)

The videotape shows Jones lunging at the officers, who then strike him repeatedly with their batons.

After Jones was handcuffed, officers noticed he wasn't breathing. Paramedics took him to University Hospital, where he died.

Jones' death angered some community members, who said it was another example of an African-American man dying at the hands of white Cincinnati police officers.

City officials and community leaders said they weren't surprised by Allen's decision, but for different reasons. Mayor Charlie Luken and Police Chief Tom Streicher were pleased that Allen's decision corroborated what they have said all along: The officers acted as they were trained.

NAACP President Dr. Calvert Smith and the Rev. Damon Lynch III, pastor of New Prospect Missionary Baptist Church, said Allen overlooked evidence in making his decision and that independent investigations may arrive at different conclusions. Smith said his organization has asked experts to review tapes of the incident as well as Jones' autopsy report.

The officers were notified of Allen's decision Monday by their supervisors, Streicher said.

"They were attempting to take a person into custody," Streicher said. "They used forced to overcome resistance and to protect themselves."

The incident will be used in on-going police training, he said. Officers will re-enact the struggle as a way to determine what officers did right and what could go wrong in a similar situations.

The officers involved - James Pike, Baron Osterman, Jay Johnstone, Joehonny Reese, Thomas Slade and Guy Abrams, went back to work a week after Jones' death.

Sgt. Harry Roberts, president of the Fraternal Order of Police, said Allen's decision was what the union expected.

"The police officers, as we've all known, did an excellent job," Roberts said. "Our officers did everything right. Therefore, they should receive the community's 100 percent support."

Tasers one result

Cincinnati City Manager Valerie Lemmie said she did not want to comment on the prosecutor's decision. But she said the city hasn't waited for the prosecutor's decision to make changes - including the purchase of new Taser stun guns for patrol officers.

"Since then we have had some reforms,'' she said. "There has been some learning because of this."

Just days after the deadly confrontation, Luken said he wanted all officers to have Tasers, a gun that administers a 50,000-volt shock and temporarily immobilizes a suspect. The city has bought Tasers for every officer, and training is ongoing.

Because officers did not immediately administer CPR to Jones, his death prompted the city to order every police officer to get yearly CPR training. Before, officers got the training in the police academy, but never had to renew it.

Ken Lawson, the attorney for the Jones family, has criticized city and police officials for supporting the officers before the investigation was complete.

Lawson had no comment Monday.

Police 'defending themselves'

Hamilton County Prosecutor Mike Allen presents a video referring to his findings about the officers involved in the Nathaniel Jones death. (Steven M. Herppich photo)

It has been nearly three years since Allen has taken a police-involved death case to a grand jury. Cincinnati Police Officer Stephen Roach was indicted in 2001 on a charge of negligent homicide in the shooting death of Timothy Thomas. A judge later acquitted him. That same year, two other Cincinnati officers were also prosecuted in the 2000 death of Roger Owensby Jr. The officers were acquitted.

Allen's decision in the Jones case comes after three-month investigation by the Cincinnati Police Department's homicide unit, which then passed their findings to Allen's office where he and top prosecutors Mark Piepmeier and Tom Longano reviewed the case.

Allen said the officers were attacked by Jones.

"It is always troubling when someone dies in police custody, but when officers are subjected to unprovoked attacks by citizens, they have not only the right, but the duty to defend themselves," he said. "In defending themselves, they also defend you and me."

In his review, Allen said his office looked at the police investigation, which includes a narrative from the investigators and 41 witness interviews; the autopsy report; video from a police cruiser and from White Castle security cameras; and police department procedures on the proper use of the officer's batons.

The presence of cameras in this case provided a detailed account of events from the moment Jones stepped from his car until he was taken to the hospital, Allen said.

In an agreement with the police department, video taken from security cameras at White Castle and video from a police cruiser, which included a 95-second time gap, were sent to a forensic video analyst. The analyst combined the two into a real-time video.

The video analysis by Avid Technology in Spokane, Wash. cost $10,000."For an explanation to the community, it is well worth it," Allen said.

Officers called out 23 times with commands for Jones to back up, to show his hands or to put his hands behind his back, Allen said.

"At the end of the (missing 95 seconds) Jones is clearly seen approaching Officer Pike," Allen said.

36 blows in 2:55

The combined video shows that the physical struggle lasted two minutes and 55 seconds. Officers swung or jabbed their batons 36 times toward Jones' arms, torso and legs, Allen said.

"Statements from witnesses confirm that there was no confrontation between the police officers and Mr. Jones until Mr. Jones swung at the officer," Allen said.

The autopsy also was important in the determination that the officers acted as trained, Allen said.

Toxicology tests showed that Jones had a history of high blood pressure, intoxicating levels of the drug PCP, and cocaine. And at 348 pounds, Jones was morbidly obese.

"This all contributed to his death," Allen said.

Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Carl Parrot also noted in the autopsy that Jones suffered asphyxia because he was left lying on his large stomach.

The autopsy also showed police protocol was followed in officers' use of their batons because Jones' bruises were on his arms, legs and torso.

When looking for violations of Ohio law, Allen said he saw offenses committed by Jones, who charged officers and at one point during the struggle tried to get one officer's gun and another's baton.

If Jones were alive, Allen said, he could be charged with felonious assault in the attack on officers. Grabbing for a police officer's weapon is an aggravated robbery, Allen said.

Smith, president of the NAACP, said he wasn't surprised by Allen's decision.

"It's consistent with what has generally been the finding from that office in this kind of instance," Smith said.

He expects people will see Allen's decision as a race issue.

"It's always black and white in this city, unfortunately, and that is probably how it is going to be perceived," Smith said.

Jeff Thompson, Jones' roommate, said he was surprised by Allen's decision. "I am disappointed, but that's just the way police run things," Thompson said. "They watch out for their own. When one of their own does something they always seem to justify it."

Independent investigations

Lynch said independent investigations would be important in this case.

"There were mistakes made that night by a lot of different parties that led to this man's death, yet nobody is being held responsible except Nathaniel Jones - and he paid for it with his life," Lynch said.

None of the City Council members most critical of police last December - Charterite Christopher Smitherman and Democrats Alicia Reece and Laketa Cole - had anything to say about the prosecutor's decision.

Others said they weren't surprised and wouldn't second-guess it.

"It was a no-win situation. It looked terrible. If you had some officers as big as he was, and with some martial arts training, you might have had a different outcome. But those are big ifs," said Charterite Jim Tarbell.

Said Democrat John Cranley, "I'm sorry there was such a tragic death, but I'm hoping this decision will provide some justified relief for the officers, because their liberty is no longer in jeopardy,"

Mayor Charlie Luken said: "What happened that night was a tragedy, but I don't think it was a crime."

What's next

Now that the Hamilton County prosecutor has ended the criminal investigation into the police-involved death of Nathaniel Jones, the case will proceed on other fronts:

• The Citizen Complaint Authority will review evidence to determine if the officers violated Cincinnati police procedures. If so, the city manager can discipline officers. Authority investigators were at the scene on Nov. 30, but their investigation has stalled because they didn't want to interfere with the ongoing criminal investigation.

• The Cincinnati Police Department's internal Investigation is continuing to determine if police policies, procedures and training were followed. Any violations could lead to discipline.

• The U.S. Department of Justice launched a preliminary inquiry, which will determine whether a full-scale civil rights investigation is warranted. No action has been taken.

• Firefighter Gregory Adams, who was in charge of the fire crew that left the scene of the struggle for about two minutes, is under investigation for his decision. Adams has had an administrative hearing to determine if he will face discipline. A decision has not been announced.

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Reporters Kevin Aldridge, Greg Korte and Jane Prendergast contributed to this report.

E-mail scoolidge@enquirer.com