Grand jury ends its probe in Lipp case
9/17/2011The Sept. 3 shooting death of a Lambertville man by police will undergo no further investigation, the Lucas County grand jury has decided.
Brian E. Lipp, 48, was shot and killed by police on the Bancroft Street exit from I-75 in the Old West End. He had been chased by police the night before in connection with a robbery of a Rite Aid near Point Place earlier in the week. The chase resumed the morning of Sept. 3 when a Toledo police sergeant approached him and he fled in a stolen vehicle.
Lipp took authorities on a chase the wrong way on I-75, causing a fatal crash, before he himself crashed the car he was driving into a fence.
Authorities said Lipp got out of the vehicle and pointed a weapon at authorities, refusing to put it down. Three Toledo Police officers, three Ohio Highway Patrol troopers, and a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent assigned to the metro drug task force fired an estimated 40 to 50 rounds at Lipp with sidearms and shotguns.
The weapon Lipp held turned out to be a pellet gun.
Friday, a Lucas County grand jury recommended that no charges be brought and decided that officers responded correctly.
Chief Mike Navarre said the Toledo Police Department is conducting an administrative review of the incident. He noted that although the grand jury considered possible criminal violations, the police department was still looking into whether the officers adhered to department policy and procedure.