The Dec. 20 and 21 standoff on Lucy Street and subsequent murder investigation resulted in Brookfield police paying 146 ½ hours of overtime just related to that call, said Police Chief Aaron Kasiewicz.
That overtime included the time officers were posted at the hospital while murder suspect Andrew Reedy was being treated until he could be released to the Trumbull County Jail on Jan. 2, Kasiewicz said.
“They really stepped up,” the chief said of his officers. “They’ve been working a lot of overtime and covering shifts as it is. For them to step up, especially around the holidays and give up time with their families, to make sure that things went smoothly, to make sure everyone was safe, it really showed a lot of the people we have working for our department.”
Reedy, 57, shot to death Jane Payton, his 57-year-old former girlfriend. Payton had had Reedy evicted from the Lucy Street home. Police had entered the home after receiving a call of an unwanted person and found Payton dead. They left the home because they believed Reedy to be inside and to be armed. They closed off the neighborhood waiting for Reedy to surrender, which he did the next morning.
Kasiewicz said members of the FBI and Mahoning Valley Crisis Response Team, which responded to the scene to help Brookfield police, complimented Kasiewicz on how his responding officers handled the call initially, before specially trained personnel arrived.
“Of course, we have critiques on it as well, but overall, all the officers made it home safe and nobody else got hurt,” Kasiewicz said. “It’s tragic that somebody else got hurt to begin with. That nobody else got hurt, it’s kind of a testament to them being patient and doing what they needed to do. I’m very proud of the guys for that.”
The Mahoning Valley CRT did not charge anything because Brookfield has traditionally made an annual contribution, often $1,000. The FBI does not charge for its services. The Trumbull County Sheriff’s Department helped staff the hospital without charging Brookfield for the service, Kasiewicz said.
Beyond that, Kasiewicz paid $580 to members of other departments who came out to help while being off duty from their regular jobs, and $100 to feed officers at the scene.
Township Trustee Dan Suttles complimented the department with how it handled the situation.
“The time you guys put in, the effort that you made, I was proud to say that our department handled that well,” Suttles said. “We all appreciate the efforts. Those are things that aren’t an everyday situation. I think you handled it very professionally.”
Reedy pleaded guilty March 4 to charges of aggravated murder and aggravated burglary and was sentenced to 23 years to life in prison.
