A 24-year-old Cleveland man was sentenced to prison after pleading guilty to opening fire on police officers and leading them on an 80 mph chase that injured five of them in May. Brian Branch's case has been described by local reports as leaving unanswered questions even as his punishment was handed down.
According to FOX 8 News, Branch was sentenced to 25 to 27 years in prison after pleading guilty to firing at police during the pursuit. Cuyahoga County Judge Brendan Sheehan, however, sentenced Branch to 25 years in prison, as reported by cleveland.com. The two accounts differ on the exact length of the term, and no sentencing document was made available to confirm which figure is precise.
The case traces back to May 23, when officers responded to a shooting on Fleet Avenue in Cleveland, per the station's report. Cleveland police records show officers from the Fourth District were dispatched to 5222 Fleet Avenue, the Open Pantry, at roughly 2:13 p.m. that Saturday, after a 33-year-old man was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, according to the Cleveland Division of Police.
Shooting, Chase and a Crash in Shaker Heights
Branch was spotted circling the area before he opened fire on officers and fled, then fired again during the pursuit that followed, the same account states. The chase reached 80 mph, cleveland.com reported, before it ended in Shaker Heights, where Branch crashed into another vehicle and a building and then ran on foot, per the earlier account.
Five officers were hurt during the episode. Two sustained minor gunshot injuries while three others were injured in vehicle crashes, according to cleveland.com's account of the May pursuit. A police K-9 riding in one of the struck cruisers was not injured, the outlet noted. All five officers were treated and released, Cleveland 19 News reported.
Guilty Plea Followed a 21-Count Indictment
A Cuyahoga County grand jury had returned a 21-count indictment against Branch before he accepted a guilty plea, per cleveland.com. He pleaded guilty to attempted murder, felonious assault, failure to comply with police, gun charges and assaulting a police dog, the outlet reported.
A court-appointed psychologist found that Branch was either faking or exaggerating his mental illness, according to the same cleveland.com account.
Part of a Pattern of Lengthy Ohio Sentences
Branch's sentence lands in a stretch of harsh outcomes for Ohio defendants convicted of firing at police. An Akron man convicted of drug trafficking and related charges connected to shooting at officers received a minimum 20-year sentence, cleveland.com reported in August. A Bellevue, Ohio man who fired a handgun at officers after a traffic stop was sentenced to 25 years in prison, according to The Blade.
