Deputy fired over car chase, shooting incident

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by Robert Recker

Senior Editor

Akron -- Summit County Sheriff Drew Alexander announced on May 28 the firing of Deputy Christopher Boyd.

An internal investigation of a high-speed vehicle pursuit that culminated in shots being fired by Boyd April 6 revealed the deputy had allegedly "violated numerous rules, regulations, policies and procedures" of the sheriff's office, and it accused him of being "insubordinate" and lying during the investigation, according to a statement released by Alexander.

He does not face any criminal charges.

Boyd, a Summit County Sheriff's Office employee since 1999, is no longer on the sheriff's payroll, but can file a grievance with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge No. 139 within seven days of his firing, according to SCSO spokerperson Christine Croce. She said Boyd had not filed a grievance as of May 29.

Neither Boyd nor the police union could be reached for comment.

Croce said the chase began in the south Summit County city of New Franklin and ended in neighboring Green, where Boyd was patrolling that night. There were no injuries, she said.

"He's still in appeal process, so we can't really get into a lot of the details," Croce said.

The incident resulted in the arrest of an Akron resident who was driving the car Boyd was chasing. New Franklin police charged the driver with third-degree felony fleeing and eluding a police officer, among other charges, according to the Barberton Municipal Court records.

The driver was indicted in county court two weeks later, pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on bond awaiting trial, the records stated.

Boyd did not have a set patrol area, and had been assigned to different SCSO jurisdictions, such as Twinsburg Township and Northfield Center Township, Croce said.

E-mail: rrecker@recordpub.com

Phone: 330-688-0088 ext. 3168