Friday, July 22, 2011
YOUNGSTOWN
A Youngstown police officer has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a police-chase that took place just before a 16-year-old driving a stolen car slammed into an SUV, killing a 9-year-old child.
Officer Anthony Vitullo, Youngstown police, had been on leave pending the internal-affairs investigation into the chase, but has been fully reinstated and back on the force.
Allen J. Thompson, 16, of Trumbull Court, was driving the stolen vehicle that hit the SUV, killing 9-year-old Da’Shawn Johnson of Youngstown, on July 14. Thompson is in the Martin P. Joyce Juvenile Justice Center on Scott Street on a charge of receiving stolen property, and the investigation into that matter continues.
The internal-affairs investigation into the chase revealed that Vitullo spotted the Ford Taurus driven by Thompson and recognized the car as stolen. He began following the car, and Thompson took off at a high rate of speed.
Lt. Brian Butler of Youngstown police internal affairs said Vitullo chased the stolen car, but for only about 36 seconds.
“We pulled the GPS from his cruiser, and I spoke to an independent witness who confirmed that he used lights and sirens. It all shows that he did follow all rules and regulations,” said Butler.
In a letter detailing the findings of the investigation, Butler concluded that Vitullo exercised caution in the pursuit by maintaining speeds of 25 miles per hour at intersections and using the sirens and overhead lights on the cruiser. Use of lights, sirens and reduced speeds at intersections are detailed in the department’s pursuit policy.
Butler said investigation also revealed that Vitullo reviewed a police report about the car, which gave him knowledge that the vehicle was taken from Market Street in a felony theft.
Da’Shawn was riding in a Ford Explorer on West Boston Avenue with his 27-year-old mother, Tammy Sadler of Youngstown, at 11:21 p.m. when a Ford Taurus driven by Thompson went through a stop sign at Hudson Avenue and hit the truck. Sadler and an 11-year-old girl were taken to St. Elizabeth Health Center, but Johnson was ejected from the car and killed.
Thompson has had previous brushes with the law. He was mentioned in a 2010 police report in which he was accused of assaulting a 23-year-old North Side woman during a disagreement over the volume of a radio.
Thompson also had been listed as a runaway juvenile in June 2010. He also was the victim in a 2008 assault where he was attacked by a group of juveniles.