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Michael Yearout

Age : 39

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 02/19/2024

Location : West 117th Street and Bellaire Road

City : Linndale

County : Cuyahoga

State : Ohio

Agency : Cleveland Division of Police

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 02/19/2024, Cleveland police initiated a vehicle stop sequence that escalated into a pursuit before Michael Yearout crashed into the undercarriage of a semi truck at West 117th Street and Bellaire Road in Linndale and died. Ohio State Highway Patrol confirmed Cleveland police pursued Yearout at some point before the fatal crash.
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WHAT POLICE DID AND WHY THE PURSUIT STARTED
Reporting based on surveillance video and city records shows a Cleveland officer pulled out from a daycare parking lot, got behind Yearout, and activated emergency lights after Yearout began a left turn where turning was restricted at certain times, then corrected and continued driving. The officer escalated the situation into a pursuit even though internal city documentation later indicated the officer did not call the pursuit in to dispatch as required.
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CRASH DETAILS AND HOW YEAROUT DIED
Yearout reached the Linndale intersection at West 117th and Bellaire, ran a red light, and struck the trailer portion of a semi truck, causing catastrophic injuries that killed him. Initial crash reporting described the vehicle becoming lodged under the trailer.
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HUMAN CONTEXT AND WHO YEAROUT WAS
Family and local reporting described Michael Yearout as a father of six who was heading to work that morning. A friend who said he was driving behind Yearout and witnessed the beginning of the pursuit later described making eye contact with Yearout immediately before the officer activated lights behind him, and said he did not understand why the stop escalated the way it did.
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UNAUTHORIZED PURSUIT AND DOCUMENTED POLICY VIOLATIONS
Oversight findings later concluded the officer violated Cleveland police policies by engaging in an unauthorized pursuit, failing to document the traffic stop, and failing to notify dispatch. The same oversight reporting stated the officer did not activate his body camera during the Yearout incident and also failed to activate his body camera on four other occasions that day.
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WHAT THE OFFICER SAID AFTERWARD AND WHAT VIDEO RAISED
An Office of Professional Standards investigator reported that the officer told internal affairs he did not see the crash. Reporting also described a Linndale camera capturing the officer turning onto a highway prior to the crash site, which became part of the family’s complaint that the officer’s movements did not match the idea that he disengaged and returned to his original location.
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FAMILY RESPONSE AND PUBLIC DISPUTES
Yearout’s parents repeatedly pushed for answers about why the officer initiated the pursuit and why the pursuit was not called in, and they described the lack of clarity as unacceptable months after the death. His father publicly asked for termination and framed the pursuit itself as the cause of the death, and the family continued speaking with media as the internal process continued.
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PROSECUTORIAL OUTCOME AND HOW THE CASE ENDED CRIMINALLY
Cleveland police leadership and prosecutors criminally cleared the officer. News5 reporting stated the city and Cuyahoga County Prosecutor’s Office cleared the case criminally, meaning no criminal charges were filed against the officer for the pursuit or the fatal outcome.
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ADMINISTRATIVE OUTCOME AND HOW THE CASE ENDED INSIDE THE DEPARTMENT
After criminal clearance, the case moved into disciplinary review. Oversight reporting stated the findings were forwarded into a process where the police chief could accept or dismiss recommendations, and a hearing process could follow if discipline was pursued. Public reporting at that stage framed discipline as possible, not final, and did not describe a published termination decision.
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WHO THE OFFICER WAS AND WHETHER HE HAD PRIOR INCIDENTS
Public reporting by police withheld the identity of the officer. Police only described him as a veteran Cleveland police officer hired in 2007 and later described him as an 18 year veteran assigned to the Traffic Unit. Because the officer’s identity was not publicly released in the reporting cited here, prior misconduct history could not be independently and reliably compiled under a named record review standard. What is documented in the public oversight record connected to this case is the policy violation finding and the repeated body camera non activation findings that day.
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IMPORTANT INSTITUTIONAL DETAIL
This case illustrates a specific accountability gap pattern in police pursuit deaths where the fatal event is a crash rather than a direct use of force. Prosecutors can criminally clear an officer while administrative accountability turns on policy compliance evidence such as whether the officer requested permission to pursue, notified dispatch, documented the stop, and activated body camera. Here, oversight bodies explicitly flagged those compliance failures and pushed the case into disciplinary channels even after criminal clearance.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/investigations/cleveland-police-internal-affairs-investigating-police-pursuit-before-a-deadly-car-crash
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/we-follow-through/witness-questions-cleveland-police-pursuit-and-deadly-crash-under-internal-investigation
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/6-months-later-and-still-no-answers-for-family-of-man-killed-in-crash-after-cleveland-police-pursuit
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/we-follow-through/no-charges-in-cleveland-police-chase-not-called-in-driver-died-in-linndale-crash
https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/investigations/cleveland-police-watchdogs-find-officer-violated-policies-in-chase-where-father-of-6-died
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsCXI2R4mUo

Family Interview:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsCXI2R4mUo