The family of Michael Jones, a 54-year-old father of eight killed by an Akron police officer during a 2024 traffic stop over a rented U-Haul truck, has filed a $10 million federal lawsuit against the city, the officer who shot him, and several police supervisors. The lawsuit claims officers never explained why they approached Jones before the encounter turned deadly, and it names Officer Michael Novak and Officer Nakoa Anderson as defendants alongside police supervisors.
According to Cleveland.com, Novak and Anderson first approached Jones around 1 a.m. in a gas station parking lot on the 2200 block of East Avenue, where Jones was sitting in a U-Haul truck that had been reported stolen. The officers ordered Jones out of the vehicle, and when he asked why he was being stopped, the lawsuit says Novak told him he was being arrested. Novak then handcuffed Jones, and the two officers grabbed him as a struggle broke out inside the truck cab.
Body camera and surveillance footage released by Akron police in the days after the shooting shows officers partially inside the vehicle as it accelerated into the street, according to WKYC. Officers later found a loaded gun inside the U-Haul, though the lawsuit disputes that Jones grabbed or tried to use the weapon during the fight. Novak provided medical treatment to Jones after the shooting.
Family Disputes Police Account of the Stop
Attorney Bobby DiCello, who represents the Jones family through the firm DiCello Levitt, wrote in the lawsuit that, without justification, the defendants took Michael's life and left his family to mourn and continue through life without him. The suit alleges Novak shot Jones without any indication that he had committed a crime, was armed, or posed a threat, and it accuses the officer of using excessive force and causing wrongful death.
City records reviewed by Signal Akron show Novak had been with the Akron Police Department for two and a half years at the time of the shooting, and that neither he nor Anderson had prior disciplinary records. A Summit County grand jury declined to indict Novak in connection with the shooting last year, and Novak remains an Akron police officer according to state records. Akron officials launched an internal investigation after the grand jury's decision but have announced no updates on it. Akron Municipal Court spokesperson Stephanie Marsh declined to comment on the pending litigation, per Cleveland.com.
City Faces Mounting Payouts Over Police Shootings
The Jones lawsuit, filed in federal court in Akron, lands just three days after the city announced a $4.75 million tentative settlement with the family of Jazmir Tucker, a 15-year-old fatally shot by Officer Davon Fields in November 2024. That officer was fired for policy violations including failing to render timely medical aid, Hoodline previously reported. DiCello also represented the family of Jayland Walker, a 25-year-old Black man shot and killed by Akron police in June 2022, a case that ended in a $4.85 million settlement and sparked citywide protests that prompted independent policing reviews.
The pattern of costly settlements has continued alongside other use-of-force controversies in the city. In November 2025, an Akron officer fired more than a dozen shots at Corey Phillips outside a bar within 25 seconds of exiting his patrol vehicle, severely injuring him. Mayor Shammas Malik later confirmed Phillips was unarmed, according to CBS News. In December 2023, the department had already updated its policy to make the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation the default agency for investigating officer-involved fatal shootings, replacing sole reliance on internal detectives, with BCI files going to the Ohio Attorney General and Summit County grand juries.
Reform Efforts Continue Under Scrutiny
Mayor Malik announced in December 2024 that former U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch and the policing firm 21 CP Solutions were hired to conduct a comprehensive, independent review of the department's use-of-force policies following a string of fatal encounters. Akron voters had already created an Independent Police Auditor and a Citizens' Police Oversight Board through a 2022 charter amendment, giving civilians a formal role in reviewing internal police investigations after grand jury proceedings conclude.
The Jones case arrives as Akron continues to grapple with violent crime even as homicides have fallen. The city recorded 25 homicides in 2024, down from 26 the year before and half its 2020 peak of 50, though 2024 FBI data still ranked Akron among Ohio's ten most violent major cities, with 820.3 violent crimes per 100,000 residents. Jazmir Tucker was 15 years old when he was shot to death by an Akron police officer in 2024, one of several fatal encounters that have kept pressure on the department's oversight and use-of-force policies as the Jones family's federal case moves forward.
