Each of the two Toledo police officers whose conduct during May 30 protests is under internal investigation has been disciplined by the department in the past, a review of Toledo Police Department discipline reports shows.
Officer Melvin Russell, 42, and Officer Jeffrey Breeze, 39, each were placed on desk duty last week while department officials look into their conduct on May 30, when demonstrators took to Toledo’s downtown streets to protest police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
That protest began peacefully, but police officers and demonstrators clashed later in the day.
The internal investigation into Mr. Russell’s conduct was prompted by cellphone videos shared on social media that show him removing his helmet and swinging it onto a protester near Adams and 17th streets.
City officials would not offer specifics about what conduct of Mr. Breeze’s from that day is being reviewed, but discipline records indicate he is being investigated for “unnecessary use of physical control techniques.”
The city’s collective bargaining agreement with the Toledo Police Patrolman’s Association gives the internal affairs division 100 days to complete its investigations. Once a review is done, a hearing is typically scheduled with the police chief.
Mr. Russell was hired Nov. 1, 2010, and has been investigated 11 times for violating department policy between 2014 and 2020, records show.
Two of those violations are categorized as “major,” including conduct unbecoming and the unnecessary use of physical control techniques.
He was suspended for five days for the conduct unbecoming incident in 2018 and served one day unpaid while the other four are held in abeyance for three years. The files provided to The Blade through a public records request Wednesday did not provide further details about the incident.
The other “major” case is still open and stems from the department’s response to the May 30 protest.
The other nine are marked as “minor” violations, three of which were ruled either “unsustained” or “exonerated,” records show.
Mr. Breeze was hired Feb. 9, 2015, and has been investigated seven times for violating department policy between 2017 and 2020.
Four of those violations were categorized as “major,” though one was ruled “unsustained.”
He was suspended for 28 days in 2019 — he served 10 days without pay and the other 18 will be held in abeyance for three years — for violating the department’s abuse of authority, neglect of duty, and demeanor directives. He was also suspended for 10 days in 2018 — he served three days without pay and the other seven will be held in abeyance for three years — for violating the detainee safety directive.
No other details of either incident were included in the discipline report.
Mr. Russell’s 24-page personnel file, which is separate from his discipline report, includes four letters of appreciation and nine notices of “exceptional performances.”
His latest pay rate change logged in his personnel file was in 2015 when he marked five years on the force. His pay was increased then to $28.77 an hour.
The letters of appreciation documented include a December 2011 note from the Terrorist Screening Center in Washington commending Mr. Russell for notifying the federal agency of a possible person on the Terrorist Watchlist.
“Officer Russell followed the appropriate protocol by contacting the TSC. That contact allowed the TSC to determine that the encountered individual was in fact a ‘positive match’ to a known or suspected terrorist,” the letter states.
Then-City Councilman D. Michael Collins in April 2012 commended Mr. Russell for his “professionalism” and “compassion” when responding to a call in South Toledo about an elderly woman who was disoriented and needed assistance getting home.
Other accolades include praise from a citizen who called TPD to report a possible break-in and a thank you note for participating in a “12 Kids of Christmas” event in 2014.
Mr. Russell has been formally commended for his police actions nine times, his personnel file shows.
He was praised for a 2014 traffic stop where two shooting suspects were arrested; a 2014 traffic stop that resulted in the arrest of a suspected drug dealer; for providing a pizza dinner for children who were taken into Lucas County Children Services’ custody in 2015; and for locating a burglary suspect at Cherry Street Mission in 2015.
He was also formally commended for apprehending a burglary suspect in 2016; for going “above and beyond” during a 2018 burglary investigation; for helping to identify an armed robbery suspect in 2018; for displaying compassion during a traffic stop in 2018; and for catching a fawn running near the highway in 2019.
Mr. Russell’s personnel file does not include any information about a 2012 incident where he fired one shot toward a 15-year-old, who was suspected of shooting another teen, after the youth reportedly shot at Mr. Russell during a foot chase.
He was placed on a mandatory three-day paid administrative leave after the incident, which is department policy after an officer fires his service weapon.
His file also does not include any information about a federal lawsuit filed May 10, 2019 in which Toledoan Frank Prude accused Mr. Russell and other unnamed Toledo police officers of racial profiling and conspiring to terrorize him because he is black.
The lawsuit alleges Mr. Russell tried to run Mr. Prude’s car off the road with his truck and then followed Mr. Prude to his home. Mr. Prude’s lawsuit states other Toledo police officers then came to his home and harassed him, asking Mr. Russell, who was off-duty, “is this the boy” before allowing Mr. Russell to write Mr. Prude a traffic ticket for an improper lane change.
A federal judge dismissed the case, in part because it was filed after the two-year statute of limitations had passed.
Mr. Prude could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Mr. Russell also could not be reached.
Mr. Breeze’s personnel file is eight pages long. It includes his hiring paperwork and forms documenting pay raises received for years of service. In February he marked five years with the department and his pay increased to $31.29 an hour.
He could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Michael Haynes, president of the TPPA, declined to discuss either officer, citing the ongoing internal investigation.
First Published June 17, 2020, 10:35 p.m.
