Lordstown police dashcam video shows chase hours before man shot by police in Brookfield
By: The death of a Liberty man who was shot by police last week in Brookfield has been ruled a homicide.
Trumbull County Coroner Dr. Lawrence D’Amico said Fred Wild III, died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Lordstown police released dash camera video of the chase investigators say involved Wild, which happened about 11 hours before the shooting.
According to a police report, Lordstown police responded to a business because the owner wanted Wild, a former employee, removed. When officers went to the business, the truck belonging to Wild drove around an officer and took off.
The chase lasted about 35 minutes, spanned 38 miles, and reached speeds up to 110 miles per hour.
The chase ended on the railroad tracks near Merwin Chase Road in Brookfield, where officers discovered the truck abandoned with the driver’s side door open. Several police agencies, the Ohio State Patrol, a K-9 unit and an OSHP plane helped search the area but did not find the driver. The search was called off just before 5 p.m.
During an interview with the owner of the business, it was learned that the owner wanted Wild off his property, citing a sobriety issue and concerning behavior. Wild had been “crashing” on a couch at the business or staying inside a camper at another property owned by the businessman. He also had a history of staying at a hunting cabin owned by a friend, the report stated.
The business owner said he gave Wild a few gallons of gas and told him to leave.
Just after 1 a.m. Tuesday, officers and troopers responded to a 911 call about a suspect, later identified as Wild, trespassing in a cabin on private property in Brookfield Township.
As officers approached Wild, he jumped out of a window of the cabin and got into a stolen vehicle, according to a joint news release from investigating agencies.
Investigators say Wild would not comply with commands and drove toward officers in the stolen vehicle — a pickup truck with a snowplow attached to the front belonging to William Shafer.
Multiple officers then fired their guns, hitting and killing Wild.