Officers charged in crash involving sergeant who shot 'Bones'

Three Cincinnati police officers face charges and have had their police powers suspended after the department's Internal Investigation Unit learned a March traffic accident wasn't handled properly, authorities say.

One of them is a Cincinnati police sergeant who shot and killed David "Bones" Hebert, a death that spurred community concern four years ago.

Sgt. Andrew Mitchell faces traffic charges after he was involved in a single-vehicle crash on March 22, police said. Two other officers, both Mitchell's subordinates, are accused of hindering the crash investigation process, ignoring witness statements and failing to take Mitchell into custody, according to court documents.

Cincinnati District 5 police officers Jason Cotterman and Sgt. Richard Sulfsted are charged with two counts each of dereliction of duty and three counts each of obstruction of justice, according to documents filed in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

While tending to Mitchell's crash scene, Sulfsted oversaw the departure of Mitchell from the crash scene before a full investigation could occur, court documents state. Neither city officials nor court documents state where the crash occurred or contain details of what happened.

Cotterman "did quickly remove him from the scene of a single-vehicle crash, conceal Andrew Mitchell from witnesses and other police officers, arrange for Andrew Mitchell to be transported to his residence and refuse to acknowledge witness statements or properly investigate the crash," according to a police affidavit filed in Hamilton County Municipal Court.

Sulfsted had his police powers suspended just two days after the crash while Cotterman lost his police powers May 1.

Mitchell was charged Friday -- more than three months after the accident -- with reckless operation of a vehicle, operation without reasonable control of a vehicle and a safety belt violation, authorities said.

Mitchell, whose police powers were suspended on Friday, is scheduled to appear in court July 10.

Sulfsted is facing an additional charge of illegal conveyance of weapons, drugs or other prohibited items onto the grounds of a detention facility, court documents state. It is not clear how or if those charges relate to the crash.

Cotterman and Sulfsted are scheduled to appear in Hamilton County Municipal Court on July 16, according to a memo from City Manager Harry Black.

"All three officers' police powers will remain suspended pending the outcome of the Municipal Court proceedings and any resulting disciplinary action by the city," Black wrote.

Mitchell still faces a federal civil rights case in connection with the 2011 shooting of Hebert, known to many as "Bones."

Hebert, who was a musician, was killed after displaying a knife when police approached him on the sidewalk. Numerous protests and marches occurred in Northside afterward.

The lawsuit claims excessive use of force and is scheduled to go to trial in February 2016. It also names the city of Cincinnati and other police officers as defendants.

"The accident and subsequent cover-up charges raise questions that have yet to be addressed as Cincinnati Police continue their investigation, including the nature of Mitchell's activities that night along West McMicken Avenue, his fellow officers' motivations for the alleged cover-up and why Mitchell has remained on the force following other questionable situations in his past service," the Friends of Bones group posted on its Facebook page Tuesday.