Department: Sergeant in Guilford shooting 'in compliance'

CHARLOTTE – The internal investigation into the fatal officer-involved shooting of an unarmed 17-year-old found that the sergeant followed Eaton County Sheriff’s Office “regulations, general orders and training.”

It did, however, recommend the department “re-emphasize” training on stun gun use and continue to place an emphasis during training on communication and “defensive ground fighting tactics.”

Sgt. Jonathan Frost, who was interviewed by the department as part of the investigation, was cleared of any wrongdoing and remains on active duty.

“Sgt. Frost’s use of deadly force was authorized by ECSO General Orders which allows Deputies to use deadly force to protect themselves or another person from an immediate threat of death or serious personal injury,” according to an Eaton County Sheriff’s Office release about the internal investigation.

“Sgt. Frost’s lawful actions were also in compliance with Eaton County Sheriff’s Office regulations, general orders and training.”

Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich wasn’t available to comment Thursday night.

Frost shot Deven Guilford, of Mulliken, seven times during a traffic stop in February. He was cleared of any criminal wrongdoing in June by the Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The stop was initiated after the teen flashed his high beam headlights at the sergeant’s patrol car thinking the other vehicle had its high beams on. Guilford refused to give Frost his driver’s license. Frost ordered Guilford out of the vehicle. Guilford refused.

The situation escalated when Guilford went to make a call on his cell phone, the report said.

“When Mr. Guilford started to make the phone call, Sgt. Frost suspected that he may be calling somebody to come help him,” the report said. “He decided for his own safety that it was necessary to act immediately to affect the arrest and prevent the driver from making a phone call in case he was attempting to call someone else that might arrive and become a threat to Sgt. Frost.”

Frost told the department he intended to wait for backup, but that Guilford’s actions and the things he was saying caused Frost to suspect Guilford “may be a ‘sovereign citizen’ or ‘militia’ movement member,” the report said.

Frost was also concerned about whether Guilford was stalling, he told the department. He added that he had no idea who Guilford was or whether he had just came from a crime.

Frost grabbed the teenager and pulled his stun gun out. Guilford eventually got out of the car and onto his stomach. Frost attempted to handcuff him. Guilford resisted.

“As he was trying to get Mr. Guilford to bring his arms behind him for handcuffing, Sgt. Frost had also observed Mr. Guilford looking back toward him in a manner in which he had been trained to recognize as a possible indicator of a pending attack,” the report said.

Frost deployed his stun gun, which wasn’t effective because only one of two prongs embedded into Guilford, according to evidence.

The report released Thursday said that might have been a result of using the stun gun too close to Guilford and concluded that the department’s Taser training should “re-emphasize the distance of deployment as a factor in electro-muscular disruption.”

Guilford was able to get off the ground and charge at Frost, according to video of the incident. The fight moved from the side of the car to a snow-filled ditch on the side of the road where Guilford was on top of Frost and hitting him in the face and head, according to evidence reviewed by the department and during the Michigan State Police investigation.

Frost could feel blood in his mouth and felt he was about to lose consciousness, according to the department report. It added that Frost tried to plant his feet in the ground and use a maneuver he learned in defensive tactics training, but his feet were sinking in the snow and he couldn’t get any traction.

Frost then pulled his weapon.

“Sgt. Frost stated he began firing toward Mr. Guilford but was not sure if his rounds were striking him and Mr. Guilford continued to punch him in the head and face even after his first few rounds were fired,” the report said. “Sgt. Frost said he felt closer to passing out by this time. Since he could not see if his rounds were striking Mr. Guilford, or if they were having any effect at all, he continued to fire in Mr. Guilford’s direction until Guilford stopped the attack.”

Contact Matt Mencarini at (517) 267-1347 or mmencarini@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattMencarini.