Fired Akron officer waives his right to a mayor's hearing but will go to arbitration
An Akron officer who was recently fired following two use-of-force incidents waived his right to a hearing before Mayor Shammas Malik.
Ryan Westlake will instead challenge his termination in arbitration.
“We are skipping the mayor’s hearing and going to arbitration,” Brian Lucey, the president of the Akron police union, said Thursday, which was the deadline for Westlake to request a mayor’s hearing.
Westlake, who has troubled history with the department, was fired last week
by city and police leaders because of actions he took during two use-of-force incidents they say violated police rules and procedures. He also is being investigated for an April 1 incident in which he shot a 15-year-old teen in the hand who had a fake gun.
The shooting of the teen prompted many community leaders to call for Westlake’s immediate termination and to question why he was permitted to remain an officer, given his checkered past.
City leaders say Westlake was fired based on a Dec. 31 incident in which he put the muzzle of an assault rifle to the back of a man’s head while other officers handcuffed him and a March 1 incident in which Westlake appears to swing a teen around as he attempted to get her in his cruiser, resulting in her falling to the ground. The incidents were captured on Westlake’s body-worn camera and a store's surveillance camera.
Police supervisors deemed Westlake’s use of force in the December incident to be unreasonable and disagreed on whether his actions in the March incident were justified. The first supervisors who evaluated the March incident found it to be reasonable, but internal affairs supervisors found it was not, according to personnel records.
Westlake has a troubled history with the department
Westlake, 33, has been involved in five use-of-force incidents in the first four months of this year.
The department has an early warning system that alerts police supervisors when an officer has six use-of-force incidents in a year.
The most use-of force Westlake had in prior years was seven in 2021 and eight in 2023, according to his personnel records.
Westlake also has been disciplined five times and was fired, then reinstated and instead suspended in 2021, following allegations of two drunken and violent off-duty incidents involving his girlfriend. In one of those incidents, Westlake’s girlfriend accused him of punching her and holding a gun to her head and threatening to kill her and her father.
Westlake was charged with domestic violence and aggravated menacing, but these charges were dropped and the case expunged after his girlfriend refused to cooperate.
Former Mayor Dan Horrigan fired Westlake on July 20, 2021, pointing to the two incidents involving his girlfriend as well as him using inappropriate language during a call for service. Westlake, though, was reinstated the next day and suspended for 71 days after a deal was reached between union and city leaders.
Westlake’s shooting of teen is still being investigated
Westlake is still under investigation for shooting a teen in the hand on April 1.
Westlake was responding to a call about a male pointing a gun at houses. He drove up near a teen holding a gun, told him to show his hands, then, seconds later, shot him in the hand.
The gun that Tavion Koonce-Williams was holding was fake. Tavion was facing a misdemeanor facsimile firearms charge, but that charge was dismissed in Summit County Juvenile Court, pending the outcome of the investigation into the shooting.
The shooting is being investigated by the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation. The BCI findings then will be presented to a grand jury. The police department and the Citizens' Police Oversight Board will then also investigate.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Akron officer fired over use-of-force incidents waives mayor's hearing
