Affidavit says Warren officer made up story about robbery, alleged shootout
New details have emerged about the alleged officer shooting investigation into 23-year-old Noah Linnen.
Linnen was booked into the Trumbull County Jail Tuesday evening on three felony charges including inducing panic, disrupting public service, tampering with evidence and a misdemeanor charge of falsification.
Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Michael Burnett tells 21 News if Linnen is convicted of all charges and ordered to serve them consecutively, he could spend up to six years in prison. The felony convictions would prevent him from owning a firearm, and therefore he could never serve as a police officer again.
Howland Police and the Trumbull County Prosecutor's Office released an affidavit on the arrest of Linnen.
The investigative report states that Linnen told officers that he saw a black SUV that appeared to be broken down and tried to aid the driver when the alleged shootout occurred.
During the time following the alleged shooting, at least ten different agencies responded, and at least 45 officers made traffic stops of SUVs matching the description and suspect.
Linnen had described the suspect as a tall, thin black male, and during the time, three black males were stopped and detained by police for a significant amount of time until it was determined that they were not involved.
Howland Police Investigators assigned to the case processed the crime scene and searched the area for video surveillance cameras that could have captured the incident.
According to the documents, four separate video systems were reviewed that clearly showed the area where the alleged incident occurred and was unable to find a vehicle matching the description given by Linnen.
Investigators interviewed Noah Linnen on January 15, and he further described the suspect as a black male that was six feet tall in his 30's with a thin build. He said the suspect was wearing a black hoodie with the hood up and had a gray t-shirt pulled up over the lower half of his face like a mask. He also described the suspect as having a high pitched voice and carried a silver revolver with a black handle.
After being confronted by investigators about his story not adding up, Howland's Police Chief Nick Roberts says Linnen finally came clean. Admitting he allegedly staged the robbery.
"Every once in a while, you're going to have an incident where you have a rogue officer who makes some poor decisions -- and it just tarnishes everyone," Chief Roberts said.
Linnen, who has now been terminated from his job as a Warren Police Officer, appeared in court for his arraignment and received a $10,000 cash or surety bond. By 10:20 a.m., he had bailed out of the Trumbull County Jail.
Howland Investigators say they learned the truther about the January 13th incident when they found surveillance video from Pine Avenue where Linnen claimed that on his way home when he was robbed and shot at by a black male in a black SUV.
The surveillance video did not show any vehicle fitting that description in the area at that time at all. So Linnen allegedly changed his story during a second interview saying the black male suspect was on a bike, then he said the suspect was on foot. When investigators finally came clean, he said he stopped along Pine Avenue to look at directions on his phone. He saw headlights heading toward him at a high rate of speed, swerving and almost hitting him. That's when he says he pulled his service weapon and fired three rounds through his car door.
Linnen said he then panicked and feared he'd be in trouble for discharging his duty weapon, so he allegedly made the story up.
For the City of Warren that was under the Department of Justice's watch for years because of racial tensions, and use of force claims Warren's Police Chief Eric Merkel says, "It certainly doesn't represent the men and women of the police department who come to work every day and serve this community with professionalism, honor, and integrity."
In a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Warren Mayor, William Franklin, and Chief of Police, Eric Merkel, said the false description of the suspect led to multiple people being stopped and searched.
"Unfortunately, the issue of race was injected by Mr. Linnen," said Mayor Franklin.
According to the document, the detective involved noticed multiple inconsistencies in Linnen's statements.
Investigators say Linnen admitted that he could have given a wrong description of the vehicle due to his high level of stress.
The document states that Linnen asserted that he was telling the truth and blamed inconsistencies on the stress of the shootout.
According to the documents, Linnen stated that "he had not been altogether truthful about the suspect's vehicle."
Linnen allegedly told the investigators that the suspect had been riding a bicycle and fled after the attempted robbery. As the interview progressed, Linnen was confronted with the fact that no bicycle was found on the scene, and Linnen then stated that the suspect wasn't riding a bike.
According to the documents, investigators continued to go over the shortcomings of his statement, and he eventually admitted to not being truthful in his initial rendition of the facts.
Documents say that Linnen told investigators that he had stopped to pull up directions on his cell phone on Pine Street when a car was heading towards him at high speed and that the vehicle swerved towards his car, almost hitting him head-on.
Linnen told investigators that he fired three rounds through his door towards the vehicle but could not describe the make or model or describe the driver.
Documents say Linnen panicked because he had used his issued duty weapon and decided to stage a robbery to attempt justification of his use of the weapon.
According to the documents, Linnen told investigators that he took his back up gun and fired two rounds towards himself as if he was seated in the car. One of the rounds grazed his shoulder, tearing his jacket but not wounding him.
Linnen told investigators that he then threw his backup gun and badge onto the road and drove a short distance where he pulled over and used the police radio to report the false robbery and firearm assault.
Investigators say in the document that Linnen's false statements were calculated to mislead investigators and led to innocent people being detained by police.
Chief Merkel said that a disciplinary hearing is in motion against Linnen, and they are expecting him to be officially terminated sometime Wednesday.
"I am angry and disgusted at the situation," said Merkel, "There was no reason to believe the officer would have acted out like this based on the vetting process."
"At the time, we took what Linnen said as the truth, and we apologize to those people who were stopped and searched," said Merkel.
Linnen was arraigned at 9:30 a.m. in front of Judge Ronald Rice at Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Wednesday morning, where he pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Linnen posted bond and was released from the Trumbull County Jail.
He is scheduled to be in court again on February 20th.