Toledo Officer Howe is under investigation over allegations of excessive force during traffic stop
By: A traffic stop on March 30 just west of Toledo has resulted in an independent investigation and the officer involved being placed on paid leave over allegations of excessive force.
Thirty-one-year-old Shyla Wolf was driving her three kids out of town on Highway 30 to a lacrosse game in which her son was to participate when Toledo Police Sergeant Kyle Howe pulled her vehicle over.
During the traffic stop, Howe approached the driver’s side door and spoke to Wolf through the window (body camera footage of the incident has been released to media outlets). Howe informed Wolf that she was driving with a barred license, and in response, she expressed confusion as she believed her driver’s license to simply be restricted, which allows an individual to drive to certain places like work or their child’s school. A barred license, on the other hand, does not allow a person to drive anywhere.
Wolf’s attention then quickly turned to her three children in the car with her.
“I need somebody to get my kids,” she said.
Howe initially allowed her to do so with the one provision that she exited the vehicle. Standing between Howe’s Toledo Police vehicle and the back end of Shyla’s car, Wolf attempted for the second time to call someone to take care of her children.
As the phone rang, Shyla asked Officer Howe, “Why do you harass me?”
Howe then reached forward, grabbed Wolf’s arm and shoved her forcefully onto the hood of the police cruiser after remarking, “Okay, you’re done.”
Little is shown on the body cam footage for the next few moments after Howe’s body camera fell off of his vest and landed in some brush, but the audio is still captured for the minute plus that the body cam lies on the ground.
Howe repeated the command for Wolf to obey his orders, or he would tase her. Wolf yelled for her oldest child, still sitting in the car, to get out his phone and record the events. The children began to scream and cry in the car as they watched the interaction unfold.
When the camera was picked up from the brush, Wolf was nowhere in sight. Howe bent down to pick up a few of her things that fell during the struggle, including the glasses she had been wearing. The children continued to scream for their mother as Howe paced about, waiting for other police officers to arrive.
The first to show up were two Meskwaki Tribal Police officers, who walked over to calm the still crying children, and Toledo Police Chief Dan Quigley was next to arrive.
The cruiser door was opened, and Wolf immediately made it known that she did not feel safe around Howe. Quigley attempted to speak to Wolf as Howe berated her, informing her she would be going to jail, talking over both Quigley and Wolf herself.
In all, five other police officers arrived on the scene in the aftermath: two officers from the Meskwaki Nation Tribal Police, one officer from the Tama Police Department, and two officers from the Toledo Police Department, including Quigley.
Wolf now faces a total of four charges, including three counts of the Class C felony neglect or abandonment of a dependent and one count of driving while barred.
Wolf is considering filing a lawsuit, and Howe is currently on paid leave while an independent third party investigates the matter. Toledo City Attorney Michael Marquess said he expects a preliminary report to be completed by April 24, and it will be made public.
The Toledo City Council went into a closed session on Monday, April 10, to discuss possible litigation. In an email exchange, Quigley answered questions about body cameras and general procedure regarding these types of situations. He told the T-R he did advise Wolf of her Miranda rights once he arrived on the scene, but could not directly comment further on the incident as the investigation is ongoing.