YOUNGSTOWN — A 9:13 a.m. call to Youngstown police Thursday provides a clear picture of how the officer-involved shooting death of Ricco A. Acevedo, 45, on Helena Avenue on the South Side began.

It does not provide a lot of information about what happened after officers arrived and confronted a burglar, who they later shot to death inside the house.

The Youngstown Police Department provided the telephone call and radio calls involving officers at the scene Monday following a newspaper public records request for the radio and telephone calls and body camera videos. The body-cam videos were not provided.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal investigation is handling the investigation of the officer-involved killing, which police say started out as a call about a burglary.

A woman identifying herself as Betty Cuevas, mother of Ernesto Cuevas, owner of the house, called at 9:13 a.m. to report that she was in front of the house and had seen a man walking out of it who “came right down the front steps.”

She described the man as “black, bald” and said she thought he probably “went through the back yard.” She said “Oh my God. Could somebody come, sheesh. I’m scared to death over here.” The dispatcher asked for details on what she saw, and the woman provided them.

She said the man was “wearing black.” There was no vehicle in the driveway, and she surmised that the man had gone “through the back to the other street.”

Betty Cuevas said she was going to wait “almost in front of the house” for police to arrive. The call ended with the Youngstown police dispatcher telling Betty Cuevas, “Don’t go in the house. Just wait for us.”

Officials have confirmed that Ernesto Cuevas, 51, was in the Mahoning County jail at the time his house was burglarized.

911 CALL

The first radio call involving police officers is time stamped at 9:16 a.m. with an officer just giving out codes, apparently to let the dispatcher know he was at the house on Helena.

At 9:17 a.m., a dispatcher tells officers to “check 4312 Helena, see Betty.” A short time later the dispatcher told officers he thought Betty Cuevas would be outside the house in a silver Impala.

An individual could be heard calling out an unintelligible police radio signal at 9:20 a.m. Then at 9:27 a.m., an officer could be heard stating other police radio signals.

The next radio call is at 9:39 a.m. that sounds like someone out of breath. The dispatcher asks, “Are you out on Helena?” An officer says “Send us some cars,” and the dispatcher asks other officers working to go to Helena.

Several officers can be heard saying they will “be en route.” At 9:41 a.m., an officer can be heard saying, “Shots fired.” A short time later, an officer says to “expedite” and then clarified “Expedite a 55,” which means to send an ambulance quickly.

The dispatcher tells the officer that dispatchers are “on the phone” with ambulance personnel.

At 9:43 a.m., the dispatcher asks, “Did you say shots fired?” The officer replies, “Affirmative. Notify the office, send a 55.”

At 9:44 a.m., an officer comes over the radio and tells other officers, “I am on scene. Let’s keep this (radio) traffic to a minimum.”

At 9:45 a.m., an officer says, “This residence is the only thing that is going to need to be taped off.”

At 9:47 a.m., an officer stated, “We’re going to need everybody here for the shooting team.” That refers to a group of officers trained in investigations involving officer involved shootings.

Someone stated at 9:53 a.m. that “the shooting team and crime lab are en route.”

At 9:56 a.m., a voice stated there was no need for any additional officers to come to the scene. At 10:25 a.m., a voice said that anyone not doing paperwork or securing the scene should return to their normal duties. That is the last recording.

Capt. Brad Blackburn said Thursday morning at the scene that when officers arrived at the house for a burglary call, they “found an individual in the house that did not have a right to be there. We had an officer-involved shooting at that point. The individual is deceased.”

A Youngstown police press release Thursday afternoon stated that the shooting took place just before 10 a.m. after police “encountered a male inside the home. An officer discharged their firearm during this incident, which resulted in the unfortunate death of the male, who succumbed from his injuries on scene.”

The police report released Monday lists 33 officers who were involved in the episode in some way, such as patrol officers, detectives, internal affairs officers and Chief Carl Davis. One officer’s name is blacked out as a victim under Ohio’s Marsy’s Law.

The report states that officers were called to the Helena address for a “burglary in progress. Upon arrival, they encountered a male subject in the home.” The man “was giving false information to officers to avoid identifying himself. Moments later officer Giovanni advised shots had been fired and he needs an ambulance and a supervise on scene.”

The report lists Acevedo’s address as being on East Midlothian Boulevard in Boardman.

The officer or officers involved were placed on pajd administrative leave “pursuant to departmental policy,” the release stated.

TRANSPARENCY

A press release with the recordings and a copy of the police report states that the documents were released because “We believe that sharing this information with the media is essential to maintain transparency, as well as keeping the public informed about the ongoing investigation.”

The release, which came from the police department’s Internal Affairs Division, states that the killing is “still under investigation, and the release of the 911 recordings is intended to provide a better understanding of the events leading up to the shooting.”

The police department states that it has complied with Marsy’s Law in releasing information about the killling. The law “safeguards the rights of crime victims and their privacy,” the release states. “We have redacted any sensitive of personally identifiable information related to individuals in adherence to the law.”

ACEVEDO

Acevedo’s obituary states that he was from Boardman and was born in Youngstown and “grew up attending Faith Fellowship Church of God in Struthers.”

He was a 1986 graduate of Boardman High School and previously owned and operated Ace 1 Home Improvement and Landscaping as well as being a professional MMA fighter and boxer.

He had 80 amateur fights and also boxed professionally and coached youth boxers. He is survived by seven children. His services will be Saturday at the Beautiful Feet Ministry in Boardman.