A Columbus police officer who faced criminal charges that were ultimately dismissed related to using mace on protesters during the 2020 protests in downtown Columbus is now suing the independent investigator and the city.
Officer Traci Shaw filed a lawsuit Monday in U.S. District Court against Richard Wozniak and the city of Columbus, alleging that Wozniak failed to properly investigate complaints against her, instead filing charges without following basic investigation procedures.
“The conduct of Wozniak was willful, malicious, oppressive and in reckless disregard” of Shaw’s civil rights, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit accused Wozniak of filing charges against Shaw without interviewing at least two of the alleged victims or other officers who may have witnessed the events that led to the criminal charges being filed. The charges against Shaw were later dismissed.
According to the lawsuit, Wozniak filed sworn affidavits for nine misdemeanor counts against Shaw in July 2021, more than a year after the protests that had begun in late May 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin. Two other Columbus police officers faced similar charges for other incidents — with one of those officers having charges dismissed and the other found not guilty by Municipal Court Judge Jim O’Grady.
Shaw has been a Columbus police officer for 23 years and, prior to 2021, had spent most of her career teaching at the Columbus police training academy. She was a statewide expert on police use of force and had testified on behalf of the city of Columbus in multiple lawsuits where officers were accused of using excessive force. Those credentials were lost as a result of the criminal charges being filed against her.
The charges against Shaw specifically related to a May 30, 2020, incident in which she used a “one to two second burst” of Columbus Division of Police-issued chemical spray, commonly called mace, to disperse a small group of protesters who were attempting to get into a cordoned off area and ignored Shaw’s verbal commands to turn around.
Shaw’s lawsuit said no one in the group who was hit by the pepper spray required medical attention or was detained. Three of the charges Shaw faced — interference with civil rights — require a person be detained as an element of the crime under Ohio law. Shaw’s lawsuit alleges Wozniak filed those charges against Shaw knowing that they could not be proven at trial.
Shaw’s lawsuit said at least some members of the group that was sprayed had been throwing objects at Shaw as well. Earlier that day, groups of protesters had surrounded Shaw and other officers, as well as business owners who were trying to board up their businesses in the Short North area.
Photos and videos of police using chemical spray and wooden bullets to disperse protesters, as well as numerous citizen complaints, resulted in Mayor Andrew J. Ginther giving a no-bid $50,000 contract to local law firm BakerHostetler to investigate whether Columbus officers violated any division policy. (That contract was later increased to more than $500,000.)
Ginther also appointed Wozniak as an independent special investigator, working as a Deputy Director in the Department of Public Safety, to look into potential criminal actions by officers. Wozniak received more than $150,000 for his work.
The city settled a lawsuit filed by more than two dozen protesters for $5.75 million in 2022. At least two other lawsuits have been filed against the city by other protesters.
During his investigation into an incident Shaw was involved with, Wozniak did not interview two of the alleged victims until after charges were filed against Shaw, according to the lawsuit. Wozniak also failed to interview other police officers who were in the area or Shaw’s supervisors and he didn’t talk to any use of force experts about whether using mace would have been appropriate under Columbus police policy given the situation, the lawsuit said.
Wozniak filed the charges against Shaw “without probable cause, legal right, or justification and/or failure to conduct a reasonable investigation, motivated by politics and/or ill will,” the lawsuit said.
The U.S. District Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, David DeVillers, also reviewed the conduct of Columbus police officers during the 2020 protests and “refused to bring any criminal charges,” the lawsuit said.
Shaw had previously been appointed by Ginther to serve on the city’s Community Safety Advisory Commission, which in 2019 issued a report calling for a number of reforms to Columbus police.
Shaw also worked as an adjunct professor at Columbus State Community College for more than 10 years. The lawsuit said Shaw’s contract with the college was not renewed as a result of the pending criminal charges against her, resulting in a loss of income and credibility.
The lawsuit seeks damages for lost compensation as a Columbus State instructor, lost overtime and special duty opportunities while Shaw was on restricted duty status, and compensation for the emotional distress she was put through.