[Editor’s Note: The video above is previous coverage on this story.]
CLEVELAND (WJW) – The family of fallen Cleveland Police Officer Jamieson Ritter has filed a lawsuit against the city, Police Chief Dorothy Todd, Safety Director Wayne Drummond and other police officials, alleging his death was preventable and resulted from policy failures, inadequate staffing and poor leadership.
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The lawsuit was filed just before the two-year anniversary of Ritter’s death. He was fatally shot on July 4, 2024, while officers attempted to arrest Delawnte Hardy, who authorities had identified as armed and dangerous.
Attorney Craig Bashein, who represents Ritter’s family, alleges in the complaint that “Officer Ritter’s murder by Hardy was totally preventable and should have never been allowed to occur.”
The lawsuit claims Ritter and other patrol officers “were required to work in a hazardous, unreasonably unsafe, and dangerous condition.”…