WARREN — Newly released data from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation shows Mahoning Valley law enforcement called on the state agency four times in 2023 when officers had to fire their weapons.

Since Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost took office in 2019, local law enforcement throughout the state sought BCI’s help in investigating more than 260 officer-involved critical incidents, the report states.

In 2023, BCI investigated 58 OICIs across the state, only one fewer than in 2022.

According to the release, local agencies requested BCI’s Crime Scene Unit three times to process a crime scene.

In 34 other investigations, those cases were referred to area prosecutors, while 24 investigations are active and ongoing.

Of the four investigations conducted in the Mahoning Valley, each involved a fatal shooting.

Only one of those investigations has since been referred to the prosecutor’s office while the others remain active investigations.

Dominic Binkley, deputy press secretary for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, said last week he could not comment on active cases.

Binkley said he would address cases only after a grand jury declines or a case is adjudicated in court.

After that, Binkley said a case file is posted online to be accessed by the public.

The process is one that the attorney general’s office has adopted since 2020, a decision the office said is part of their commitment to “post-investigation transparency” after critical incidents involving officers.

In 2023, 28 case files that comprise 850 gigabytes worth of data ranging from more than 1,000 investigative reports, hundreds of video files, crime scene photographs and graphic reconstructions were added to the website.

FRED WILD III

After leading police on a chase through Trumbull County on March 21, the day before his life was ended at the hands of police, 50-year-old Fred Wild III had fallen off police radar for nine hours after managing to escape their pursuit of him for a recently issued warrant.

A chase that police initiated in Lordstown came to a stalemate when Wild’s vehicle got stuck on Merwin Chase Road in Brookfield, prompting Wild to take to the woods to avoid capture, according to a police report.

Shortly after 1 a.m. March 22, police were alerted by a Brookfield property owner of a man hiding out in his cabin.

Surrounded by authorities from Brookfield, several other townships, the sheriff’s office and the highway patrol, Wild jumped through both windows of a pickup truck inside the cabin that had a snow plow attached.

Wild ignored orders by police and drove toward law enforcement, which resulted in his death by police shooting.

The shooting was investigated by BCI agents that came from as far north as Mentor and as far west as Wadsworth.

Wild was shot multiple times, but it has not been revealed yet who did the shooting.

RANDALL FIFE

After a 12-hour standoff where his family was held captive, an armed 35-year-old Randall Fife was shot and killed Aug. 23 by members of the Mahoning Valley Crisis Response Team after they breached his home about 7 a.m.

The day before, officers were called about 8 p.m. to the 3000 block of Highlawn Avenue SE in Howland for a man involved in a domestic dispute. They said Fife saw them and barricaded himself inside the home.

Attempts by police to reach Fife by phone and over a loudspeaker to persuade him to come out or allow the family members inside to leave were unsuccessful. Reports state Fife held his mother, brother and girlfriend hostage inside the home while armed with a shotgun.

The standoff lasted about 12 hours before the CRT and Ohio State Highway Patrol SWAT teams were able to enter the home.

Police said the four officers who entered the back door of the home were hit with buckshot. Two officers were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life threatening.

SHAWN THOMAS

Law enforcement from the Ohio State Highway Patrol, Vienna and Hubbard descended on a home in the 2100 block of Hubbard Masury Road around 9:30 p.m. Oct. 3 following a call from the wife of 56-year-old Shawn Thomas, in which she told police her husband was intoxicated and making threats toward her and himself while holding a firearm.

A cat and mouse game ensued as law enforcement canvased several acres of land while tracking the cellphone of Thomas to pinpoint his location.

On a 911 dispatch call the man told police he had, “300 acres to play with,” as he switched hiding spots several times over the duration of several minutes spent toying with police.

The situation came to a head as Thomas, armed with two shotguns, was spotted by an officer near Van Ness Avenue, according to a police report.

Hidden behind a tree, Thomas ignored orders to come out.

Thomas evaded police, again retreating back into the woods and flahsed his weapons at officers

The dispatch log reports: “Male yelling, ‘Shut up.’ Now we have problems … Shots fired! …Male yelled … Male crying … shots fired … Suspect down … Shots fired.”

After the shooting stopped, Thomas still could be heard over the radio dispatch call breathing heavily before falling silent.

RICCO ACEVEDO

Youngstown police called BCI to assist with an officer-involved shooting that took the life of 45-year-old Ricco Acevedo inside a house on Helena Avenue Oct. 12.

Police shot and killed Acevedo when they found him inside a house at 4312 Helena Ave., where he did not live. Acevedo’s last known address, according to Mahoning County Court records, was 52 Shields Road in Boardman.

The officers involved have not been identified, but the department said both have been placed on paid administrative leave, per department policy.

cmcbride@tribtoday.com