A 34-year-old man who led law enforcement officers from three different departments on an almost 40-minute chase from Springfield Township to Akron crashed into multiple vehicles, including police cruisers, before two Akron Police Department officers and a Summit County sheriff’s deputy fired at the man about 20 times.
The chase ended at about 6:33 p.m. on Feb. 28 after the shooting at West Market Street and Innovation Way in Akron. The driver, identified as Jeffrey Latson, then drove into a parking lot and crashed into multiple parked vehicles, where officers waited 10 minutes for a ballistic shield before approaching the truck.
The man had told Springfield police officers he had “no weapon,” and a police dispatcher told officers the man did not mention having a weapon, according to police scanner traffic.
Body-worn camera footage from APD and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office, APD dashcam footage and security video from nearby apartments were released by the two law enforcement agencies on March 7. The videos shed light on what led to the shooting and show how the Akron chase began and ended.
The Springfield Township Police Department released bodycam and dashcam footage on March 2, which showed Latson driving off with an officer on the side of the truck. The officer fell off and was injured.
Chase: Police radio traffic, bodycam footage detail harrowing chase with semi
Chase ends in Akron with about 20 shots fired
Akron Police Lt. Michael Murphy said officers responded to a call for assistance about 6:14 p.m. that a semitruck had been involved in a chase with Springfield police and was believed to be on East Market Street.
Body-worn camera footage from Feb. 28 police shooting shows the moment a Summit County sheriff deputy shoots at 34-year-old Jeffrey Latson. Latson had just driven a semitruck into the deputy’s cruiser.
The Summit County Sheriff’s Office also responded.
When officers found Latson, he was parked among several semitrucks between Van’s Tire Pros Auto Service Center and Azteca Mexican Restaurant. Sometime after fleeing Springfield Township police and being located by Akron police, he had attached a trailer to the truck.
When law enforcement officers shone a flashlight into the semitruck, Latson pulled forward and sped westbound on Market Street.
Dashcam footage shows Akron police pursuing the truck. As the truck turned south onto Innovation Way, its back left wheels struck a stopped vehicle at the light.
Security footage from nearby apartments shows the truck backed up and moved forward, hitting a Summit County sheriff’s cruiser that had just pulled in front of it.
“He is ramming my car,” the deputy radioed, according to his body-worn camera footage.
Backing up again, the truck pushed a second cruiser backward. It then pulled forward as more cruisers converged on the truck.
The deputy, still in his cruiser, then drew his handgun and fired about four shots into the truck.
Body-worn camera footage from two Akron police officers showed the two officers exited the cruiser in a field adjacent to the truck.
The passenger APD officer drew his firearm, aimed it at the truck and shot about seven times. The driver, just before exiting, is heard saying, “This man is about to be f******.” Outside the vehicle, he aimed his department-issued firearm and fired about six times.
Body-worn camera footage from Feb. 28 police shooting shows the moment an Akron police officer shoots at 34-year-old Jeffrey Latson during a chase.
As Akron officers opened fire, the deputy fired three more times.
“Hold your fire,” one officer then yelled.
The two Akron officers got back in the cruiser and are heard saying, “I shot,” and “So did I.”
“Units watch your crossfire, he’s going into the parking lot,” the driving Akron officer then radioed other units.
The truck pulled around the civilian traffic stopped at the light. Security footage showed the truck then drove over the curb next to a downed street sign and into a parking lot, where it struck multiple parked vehicles.
The Akron chase, including the shooting, lasted just over two minutes.
Stand-off caps chase, shooting
The scene of an officer-involved shooting on Akron’s east side Saturday night.
After shooting stopped, officers exited their vehicles and ran toward the stationary truck. A deputy had to climb through the driver’s side window to exit his cruiser.
The driving APD officer parked the cruiser and ran toward the truck with his rifle, joining other officers who aimed their weapons at Latson. He yelled at other officers, “I got rifle.”
“Show us your f****** hands,” an officer yelled at Latson.
“Akron Police, show us your hands,” another officer yelled.
Body-worn camera footage from Feb. 28 show law enforcement officers staging behind a cruiser as they urged 34-year-old Jeffrey Latson to exit the truck.
“Suspect, we want you alive,” another yelled. “We will not shoot. We need you to show us your hands. Let us know you are alright. We are going to get you help.”
“We need to get a shield,” one officer said. “He’s lying down in the front cab. He’s going in the back.”
Officers are heard discussing what to do next before they walk in unison toward a Summit County Sheriff’s Office cruiser. Seconds later, an officer yelled that he saw Latson raise a hand with blood on it.
An officer used a loudspeaker multiple times, telling Latson to exit the truck on the passenger side and to show his hands.
“Jeffrey, open the door with your hands out,” the officer yelled over the loudspeaker. It’s the first time officers used his name in the footage.
After 10 minutes of waiting behind the cruiser, officers walked toward the truck. The officer with the rifle told the Latson, “Just stay there, brother.”
With the truck passenger door locked, officers are seen climbing onto the passenger side of the truck and unlocking it through the broken window. At the same time, officers repeatedly ask for medical aid.
Latson was taken to an area hospital, Murphy wrote in a news release. He is in serious but stable condition.
Body-worn camera footage from Feb. 28 police shooting shows an Akron police officer aiming a rifle at 34-year-old Jeffrey Latson over 10 minutes after the same officer shot at Latson.
Woman reports threats by ex-boyfriend
The incident began when a woman called Springfield Township police to report that Jeffrey Latson, her former boyfriend, had made prior threats to shoot her, her child’s father and her other child.
Latson then showed up at the IHOP on South Arlington Road in Springfield on the evening of Feb. 28, threatening to shoot her and another woman she was with, according to a Springfield incident report.
Latson claimed he would “put a bullet in their foreheads” and threatened another female witness, according to the report.
Man first fled Springfield police
When officers arrived about 5:55 p.m., Latson left the restaurant, entered a semitruck and pulled onto South Arlington Road before immediately turning into the Walmart parking lot behind the IHOP, police said.
Latson drove the semitruck to the rear of the Walmart property and then proceeded westbound toward South Arlington Road. Officers positioned a marked cruiser in front of the semitruck to try to stop it from leaving. The suspect stopped but refused repeated commands to exit the vehicle.
As officers tried to remove Latson from the semitruck, he suddenly accelerated. The semitruck went around the cruiser and continued toward South Arlington Road. One officer safely jumped from the semitruck, while the second officer was thrown from the vehicle and sustained injuries from the fall.
Body-worn camera footage shows a Springfield Township police officer hanging off a semitruck moments before the officer falls off and is injured. The truck driver led officers on a chase into Akron, where he was shot by law enforcement.
The injured officer was taken to a local hospital for evaluation and treatment. He struck his head on the pavement and fractured the tibia and fibula in his right leg, according to the incident report.
The uninjured officer initiated a pursuit of the semitruck, which headed north on Interstate 77. The officer stopped the pursuit after the vehicle entered Akron.
Jeffrey Latson faces numerous felony and misdemeanor charges
Latson faces separate charges filed by Springfield and Akron police.
The Springfield charges are: felonious assault on a police officer, a first-degree felony; willful fleeing, a fourth-degree felony; obstructing official business, a fifth-degree felony; and two counts of aggravated menacing, a first-degree misdemeanor.
The Akron charges are: three counts of felonious assault, one first-degree and two second-degree felonies, and willful fleeing the signal of police, a third-degree felony.
Latson is scheduled to be arraigned on March 9 in Akron Municipal Court.
Officers who fired shots are on paid leave
The officers are on paid administrative leave, per Akron Police Department policy.
One officer involved in the shooting has about six years of experience, while the other has three years on the force.
The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is heading the probe into the shooting.
After BCI wraps up its investigation, Murphy said, the case will be reviewed by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office before being presented to a Summit County grand jury.
A separate internal investigation by the city’s Office of Professional Standards and Accountability will also be conducted.
Murphy said those results will be provided to the police chief and the city of Akron police auditor.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjounal.com or 330-996-3705.
Bryce Buyakie is an Akron-based reporter who covers the courts and public safety for the Beacon Journal. He can be reached by email at bbuyakie@usatodayco.com or on X @bryce_buyakie.
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: What Akron police, Summit deputy BWC shows in Feb. 28 chase, shooting
