Attorney Imokhai Okolo to sue Akron over forceful police arrest of his client, Jordan Ely

A lawyer denied a seat on the Citizens’ Police Oversight Board says he will file a lawsuit against the city on behalf of a client who was forcefully arrested by Akron police this month in social media videos that went viral.

Attorney Imokhai Okolo, who recently left Jones Day to start his own law firm in his hometown of Akron, was at the municipal courthouse Thursday on behalf of his client, Jordan Ely.

Ely is facing misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and obstructing official business, as well as a second felony drug abuse charge, after a violent July 1 arrest in a busy West Akron parking lot.

Okolo said his client intends to sue the city for the “violence inflicted” during the arrest.

Ely is being held at the Summit County Jail per an order by Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands for violating probation. Ely was arrested and charged with possession of a fentanyl-related substance in 2020. He later failed to appear in court for that and other cases, including domestic violence charges at the municipal courthouse, which prompted city and county judges to issue warrants for his arrest.

Those warrants appeared on a computer screen inside a police cruiser on July 1 when officers say they ran the routine registration check on the vehicle Ely was driving. Police say the system informed them that Ely was linked to the vehicle. The two officers in the cruiser pulled into a Family Dollar on Copley Road, where Ely had parked and stepped out of his vehicle.

According to police and civilian cellphone footage of the incident, Ely walked toward his open driver’s side door, which police say prompted them to quickly move in to secure his hands and detain him. Ely stepped backwards as officers tackled him to the ground.

Ely can be heard repeatedly saying “please” and "I can't" in the video. He later said he couldn’t breathe and repeatedly yelled "no" after the scuffle ends. He does not appear to physically or verbally threaten officers during the altercation, though he struggles to move while they try to detain him.

While seated on the asphalt with his body twisted and an officer holding his legs, another officer wrapped an arm under Ely’s neck and delivered to punches to his head, according to social media videos.

A third punch came after Ely continued to wiggle under the weight of the officers. He was eventually handcuffed. Paramedics treated and released the 31-year-old man at the scene.

Ely’s 1-year-old son was in the car. In a center console, police say they found a small baggie with 2.5 grams of powder that field tested positive for fentanyl. The substance was being shipped off for further testing.

The arrest drew sharp criticism from critics of policing who’ve been especially active since the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020 and the Akron police killing of Jayland Walker last summer.

Ely was scheduled to appear Thursday before Judge Nicole Walker for open traffic and domestic violence cases, for which Walker issued warrants that were served when police arrested Ely this month. His case was continued until July 28 to coincide with a status hearing on a grand jury decision on whether to indict Ely on the new felony drug possession charge.

As the case moves through the city and county court systems, Okolo is gearing up to file the civil lawsuit while defending his client against old and new criminal charges.

“This is yet again another example of the pattern and practice of violence from the Akron Police Department that citizens of Akron are sick and tired of,” Okolo said. “Jordan did not deserve to be beaten and brutalized by Akron police officers in front of his child and the community. This brutality must end, and the officers must be held accountable for their actions.”

Okolo was nominated by City Council to serve on the new police oversight board. The police union lobbied council members to block his nomination, though, out of concern for derogatory comments the civil rights, business and housing attorney made on Facebook following Jayland Walker's death last summer.

At the Wednesday Citizens' Police Oversight Board meeting, members agreed to accept the Rev. Joyce Penfield's complaint over Ely's arrest. Penfield served on the ballot issue committee last year that created the voter-approved police oversight board.

Lt. Dave Laughlin with Akron police said the department will review the arrest as standard protocol in any use of force. The results of that internal investigation will then be forwarded to the police oversight board and its independent police auditor, who could look further into the matter.

Reach reporter Doug Livingston at dlivingston@thebeaconjournal.com or 330-996-3792.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Imokhai Okolo says he will sue Akron over Jordan Ely's forceful arrest