The Summit County Medical Examiner today identified the man whose body was found last Thursday in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park near the intersection of Valley View Rd. and Sagamore Rd. as 31-year-old Michael R. Stout of Linton Ave. in Cleveland.
While the office has yet to officially declare a cause of death, park rangers told the Akron Beacon Journal it appears Stout died from exposure.
Federal and local authorites had been searching for Stout since January when he failed to show up for a Jan. 4 court appearance after being indicted for allegedly stabbing a Broadview Heights police officer during a 2021 traffic stop. The trial was supposed to begin on Jan. 31.
That day, the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force asked the public for tips on Stout’s whereabouts.
Stout was facing charges of felonious assault on an officer, carrying a concealed weapon and resisting arrest.
A Broadview Heights police officer last January initiated a traffic stop around 2 a.m. after seeing a car without a rear license plate. After a short chase on I-77, the car stopped. Stout’s brother, the driver, refused to shut off the car and drop the keys out of the window. Stout himself took off running. An officer caught up and Stout stabbed him in the face and head while officers were attempting to detain him, according to police. The officer used a taser, but Stout wasn’t subdued. One of the officers on scene, who hasn’t yet been identified by Broadview Heights authorities, shot Stout. He was treated at Metrohealth and later recovered at home where he was out on bond pending trial.
This article appears in Feb 23 – Mar 8, 2022.
