A Cleveland police officer is accused of shooting an unarmed robbery suspect in the back, paralyzing the man as he attempted to run away, and then lying during the internal investigation to justify the shooting.

The allegations come in a civil rights lawsuit first filed in the Cuyahoga County common pleas court, and then bumped up to federal court yesterday. It was filed by a lawyer representing Maple Heights resident Alex Littlejohn, now 22, against police officer Ronald Myers and the City of Cleveland.

It happened in May 2014. Littlejohn had just robbed the Family Dollar store near the corner of Payne Ave. and East 34th St. He was being chased by Myers, who then “tackled or otherwise restrained Littlejohn”, it says. Then an unarmed Littlejohn, “attempting to evade arrest, pushed himself up and away from Officer Myers.” Here’s what the lawsuit says happened next:

When Littlejohn was approximately 10 to 15 feet from Officer Myers, Myers shot Littlejohn in the lower back. Officer Myers shot Littlejohn despite that Littlejohn was not harming or attempting to harm Officer Myers. Rather, Littlejohn was fleeing from Officer Myers when he was shot.

In an attempt to justify shooting Littlejohn, Officer Myers provided inaccurate information to the City of Cleveland officials responsible for conducting an internal investigation of Myers’ use of deadly force. Myers alleged that he and Littlejohn were involved in a struggle for Myers’ gun at the time Littlejohn was shot. As such, Myers alleged Littlejohn was shot at close range and the shooting was justified. In reality, however, Littlejohn was an unarmed suspect who was shot as he fled from Myers.

The lawsuit brings claims against the officer and city on grounds of excessive force in violation of the Fourth Amendment; assault and battery; and negligent hiring, training and supervision.

Read the suit here:

This article appears in May 27 – Jun 2, 2015.

Doug Brown is a staff writer at Scene with a passion for public records laws and investigative reporting. A native of Ann Arbor, Mich., he has an M.A. in journalism from the Kent State University School of Journalism and Mass Communication and a B.A. in political science from Hiram College. Prior to joining Scene, Doug was a contributing writer for Deadspin.com, reporting behind-the-scenes stories about college sports through public records and developing sources. Doug's work as an enterprise reporter for the Daily Kent Stater was recognized by the Cleveland Press Club (2013 Ohio Excellence in Journalism Awards), Society of Professional Journalists (regional and national Mark of Excellence Awards), and the Associated Collegiate Press. He spent the summer of 2012 working for the Metro desk of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and spent previous summers working for Outside Bozeman Magazine and Crain's Detroit Business. His website is dougbrown8.com.

3 replies on “Cleveland Police Officer Accused of Shooting Fleeing Man in Back in 2014”

  1. “….and then lying during the internal investigation to justify the shooting.”

    I wish more attention was paid to the lies these cops tell.

    Loehmann lied about what happened with Tamir Rice and the only reason we know that is because of the video. That alone should be reason enough to fire him but he’s still there getting paid with our tax dollars.

  2. The theme song for the CPD is “Police Truck” by the Dead Kennedys. Steve Loomis slam dances like Sid Vicious when East Bay Ray gets rolling with his slick surf guitar riffs. Get huntin’ and smash through that monthly ticket quota!

  3. Great 1 sided story. You left out a lot of facts. Once again, horrible reporting. Way to attempt to stir things up. Not sure why you report only 1 side. Check the court docket to see he plead guitar your to aggravated robbery with a 3 year FIREARM spec, maybe request a report to see that he was armed. What is the point of this stupid 1 sided biased article?

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