Larry McDonald Jr.

From LEO Ratings
 
leoratings.com is celebrating our 3rd full year of researching incidents involving law enforcement officers in the U.S. In the last year, we've added 336 incidents, 255 officers, 95 agencies, and 2 states. Please help us by following, liking, commenting, retweeting/sharing, and telling a friend to spread the word!
Facebook logoTwitter logoReddit logo

A user of LEO Ratings suggested that we cover this officer. Please email us with any updates or your own lead.

Service Record

East Cleveland Ohio Police Department

Dates of Service Part-time from October 15, 2007 - March 3, 2017.[1]
Last Known Status Separated[1]

University Circle Ohio Police Department

Dates of Service Part-time from October 3, 2014 - January 28, 2021.[1]
Last Known Status Separated

Cleveland Ohio Police Department

Dates of Service May 12, 2017 - March 6, 2018.[1]
Last Known Status Resigned[2]

East Cleveland Ohio Police Department

Rank Sergeant (Commander)
Dates of Service March 5, 2018 - May 23, 2023.[1]
Last Known Status Resigned in lieu of termination.[1]

Put-in-Bay Ohio Police Department

Dates of Service Part-time from May 18, 2019 - November 25, 2019.[1]
Last Known Status Resigned in good standing.[1]

Incident Reports

2019 Interceding

On October 23, 2019, a woman was arrested on a misdemeanor assault complaint. McDonald helped to get the woman released from jail without bond, in exchange for her agreeing to go on a date with him.[2]

In November 2019, the woman filed a complaint.[2]

Response Timeline

McDonald was suspended for 10 days without pay.[3]

2020 Missing Evidence

In 2020, McDonald made comments to another officer about removing marijuana from the department's evidence locker.[3]

Response Timeline

An internal investigation found no marijuana missing from evidence.[3]

2021 Shooting of Vincent Belmonte

On January 5, 2021, McDonald attempted to stop Belmonte's vehicle. Belmonte led McDonald on a chase until he crashed and fled on foot. McDonald turned off his body-worn camera as he exited his vehicle to pursue Belmonte. McDonald claims to have seen Belmonte turn and point a gun at him, prompting McDonald to fire, striking Belmonte.[3]

Belmonte died at the hospital.[3]

A gun was found in the pocket of Belmonte's sweatshirt.[3]

Response Timeline

McDonald claimed that he was attempting to turn on his body-worn camera when he turned it off.[3]

McDonald received a written reprimand for failing to turn on his body camera.[3]

On October 22, 2021, a Cuyahoga County grand jury declined to charge McDonald after considering charges of murder, felonious assault, and tampering with evidence.[3]

2023 Vehicle Pursuit

News coverage with body-worn video

On March 12, 2023, McDonald attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation. The vehicle fled, and McDonald pursued it until it crashed in Cleveland. McDonald did not stop at the scene nor notify anyone of the crash. McDonald drove to a lounge.[4]

The driver of the car called Cleveland police, who contacted the East Cleveland police department. East Cleveland Sergeant Anthony Holmes called McDonald, who denied seeing the crash.[4][5]

Part of the incident and response was captured on McDonald's body-worn camera.[6]

Response Timeline

During the investigation, it was found that Holmes withheld knowledge of McDonald's involvement.[4]

On May 23, 2023, McDonald resigned.[6]

On May 23, 2023, McDonald was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence, failure to stop after an accident, telecommunications fraud, obstructing official business, and dereliction of duty.[4]

On May 23, 2023, Holmes was indicted on charges of tampering with evidence, telecommunications fraud, obstructing justice, obstructing official business, and dereliction of duty.[4]

As of February 7, 2024, the criminal proceedings were still open.[7]

LEO Ratings

References


Recent articles: Joshua Nahulu, Shevoy Brown, Thomas Mascia, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas (2019), Gerald Goines

To check for incidents in your area, please use the search page or try a random incident.