Suspect Claimed He Pooped His Pants, But Was Shot Dead Reaching For This

By Bob Owens

Prosecutors believe that serial criminal Derek Stokes had a gun hidden in his boot missed in an initial search when he was arrested in December on an outstanding warrant. He stuffed the gun between the seats before being taken out of the cruiser and subjected to a more rigorous search before being transported to the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland to be booked.

As the entered the garage, Stokes can be seen to twist and contort his body, and Metroparks ranger Chelsea McLellan can be heard asking Stokes what he’s doing. Then things got lethal.

Derek Stokes pretended to soil himself in order to conceal a handgun behind his back in the moments before he got in a shootout with a Metroparks ranger in a garage beneath the Justice Center.

Stokes was shot in the garage and later died. Cuyahoga County prosecutors cleared rangers Chelsea McLellan and Kyle Schultz Monday, saying the shooting was justified.

The prosecutor’s office released two videos Tuesday of the encounter that took place in December during the drive and after Stokes’ arrival at the Justice Center in downtown Cleveland.

Stokes was taken there after being arrested during a traffic stop on an outstanding burglary warrant. Officers also found …Read the Rest

Source:: Bearing Arms