ELYRIA, Ohio (WOIO) – Two Elyria police officers have been suspended for violating multiple department policies after entering a man’s home on May 11, 2023, stunning him with a taser and arresting him without a warrant.
Elyria Police Department Chief of Security Chris Pyanowski issued a 30-day unpaid suspension to Officer Paige Mitchell for her conduct during the incident at Raul Ortiz’s Garvin Avenue home.
19 Investigations first reported how officers handled the situation last April, nearly a year after the incident. Mitchell’s body camera footage shows her telling Ortiz’s ex-girlfriend Brittany Warner that she could kick down Ortiz’s front door to get her belongings, even though she no longer lived in the house. Officers then deployed a Taser and arrested Ortiz — but charges were later dropped.
In a letter Pyanowski sent to Mitchell on Tuesday, he wrote that her conduct during the incident “defied common sense.” He agreed with Police Chief William Pelko’s initial findings that she should be fired – but because the incident happened so long ago and has not been investigated, precedent requires that the officers’ disciplinary action be mitigated.
Pyanowski also noted that Officer Colty Hersh’s conduct violated “standard, reasonable training.” He suspended Hersh for three days without pay.
Records show that Police Chief William Pelko did not launch an internal investigation into the officers’ actions until nearly a year after the incident, just eight days after 19 investigators first reported it.
The third officer involved, Chris Lewis, was in training at the time of the incident and Pelko concluded he did not violate department policy; Pyanowski agreed.
Mitchell and Hersh will have a chance to reduce their suspensions if they do not commit any further violations next year.
Ortiz has since filed a lawsuit in federal court against the city of Elyria, the EPD and all officers involved.
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