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A Cuyahoga County sheriff鈥檚 deputy involved in separate shootings of two teenagers while assigned to a controversial downtown patrol unit was once deemed unfit by a suburban police force, an investigation by The Marshall Project - Cleveland and News 5 Cleveland has found.
During a nine-month stint with the Mentor Police Department, personnel records show Isen Vajusi failed his field training, lacked confidence, had 鈥渄ifficulty in stressful situations,鈥� and 鈥渉esitates because he is afraid of making a mistake.鈥�
Supervisors found Vajusi鈥檚 performance so poor that he needed to be terminated. He resigned Oct. 15, 2021,
After a year on the East Cleveland police force, Vajusi joined the Sheriff's Department in June 2023. Within weeks, he was elevated to Sheriff Harold Pretel鈥檚 fledgling downtown safety patrol to target crime hotspots.
Then came the shootings involving Vajusi, along with an unrelated .
Despite the gunfire and growing concerns over potential liability and costs, Cuyahoga County Council members backed down from threats of
Efforts to reach Vajusi for comment were unsuccessful. A county spokesperson declined to make him available.
The two shootings by Vajusi 鈥� in October 2024 and May 鈥� are strikingly similar. In each instance, Vajusi opened fire within seconds of exiting his cruiser. He can be heard repeatedly claiming the teens were armed, but neither was.
Two police experts who reviewed the bodycam videos and Vajusi鈥檚 personnel files said there are numerous red flags necessitating scrutiny of the deputy. Statistics show most officers rarely fire their weapons during their career.
鈥淭his guy is not wired to be a cop,鈥� said Jeff Wenninger, the founder and CEO of Ohio-based. 鈥淗e was so scrutinized for not being assertive and taking control of situations. The pendulum just swung way too far in the correction of that. He is just over the top.鈥�
Wenninger retired as a lieutenant after over 30 years with the Los Angeles Police Department, supervising over 700 critical use-of-force investigations.
Pretel would not say if Sheriff鈥檚 Department officials reviewed Vajusi鈥檚 personnel files from Mentor or East Cleveland. His Cuyahoga County personnel file contained none of the documents.
鈥淩ight now, I don鈥檛 have all those details,鈥� Pretel said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not going to get into that discussion right now.鈥�
The news outlets asked the county for any background investigations conducted on the unit鈥檚 deputies, but none has been provided.
Nine pages of Mentor Police Department records outline Vajusi鈥檚 poor performance:
He graduated from John Carroll University and said he pursued a police job after not being accepted to medical school. He then took police exams across Northeast Ohio and the Cleveland Division of Police hired him, but he resigned after one week, in December 2020.
Vajusi later graduated from the Cuyahoga Community College police academy in June 2021. While there, he was 鈥渉orse-playing鈥� and slammed another cadet into a training car, denting the door. Vajusi delayed reporting the incident and apologized, calling it 鈥渘ot a true testament of my character.鈥�
Wenninger, the police expert, disagrees, saying Vajusi's delay depicts a character flaw. The integrity issue should have brought a swift termination, he said.
鈥淲e call that lying and denying it,鈥� he said. 鈥淲hat was he contemplating during the time that this occurred? You have to have zero tolerance for anything that would be indicative of being dishonest in any way.鈥�
After graduating, Vajusi began field training in Mentor in July 2021. Problems developed immediately. He flunked the first training phase after the police department found that he created unsafe situations for citizens and fellow officers.
He did not perform 鈥渁t an acceptable level on a consistent basis, even after being provided with remedial training.鈥�
鈥淰ajusi would have difficulty in stressful situations,鈥� Sgt. Michael Kloski wrote in a memo. He 鈥渉esitates because he is afraid of making a mistake.鈥�
After four months, supervisors had seen enough of the rookie cop. A captain wrote: 鈥淧atrolman Vajusi is not performing at an acceptable level. Failure to act is not an area where additional training can be provided.鈥�
East Cleveland police personnel records mention in a five-paragraph memo prepared in early 2022.
Still, 鈥淚 found nothing that would prohibit him from employment with the East Cleveland Police Department,鈥� Detective Michael Cardilli wrote in a memo.
It is unclear why Vajusi left East Cleveland for the Sheriff鈥檚 Department. But controversy followed.
Last month, Cuyahoga deputies initiated a traffic stop. The vehicle fled. After it crashed at East 70th St. and Cedar Ave. in Cleveland, the driver sprinted away with a suspected firearm, a county spokeswoman said.
The 35 minutes of Vajusi鈥檚 bodycam video shows that within seconds, he believed the Cleveland teen was armed and ordered the 19-year-old to 鈥渄rop your gun.鈥� Vajusi then fired four rounds.
After Vajusi fired, the teen laid on the ground with his hands away from his body. He was not injured. Nor was he armed.
鈥淲here鈥檚 the (expletive) gun at?鈥� Vajusi asked.
鈥淣o gun,鈥� the teen replied. 鈥淚鈥檝e got no gun.鈥�
鈥淲hy were you reaching then?鈥� Vajusi said.
Vajusi told investigators and dispatch that the teen had a gun and called for a K-9 unit to search a field for a weapon. The K-9 deputy told Vajusi not to walk through the field. Vajusi did anyway.
It took nearly 12 minutes before a sheriff鈥檚 sergeant told a dispatcher to notify Cleveland police about the shooting.
Vajusi searched the field for the driver鈥檚 suspected gun with his firearm鈥檚 light. He pointed his weapon toward residences and other men detained on a curb. A sergeant ordered Vajusi to sit in his cruiser and pressed him about the gun.
鈥淚 thought he had a gun,鈥� Vajusi replied. 鈥淚t was really dark.鈥�
At times, the body cam audio turned off as Vajusi spoke. Other deputies reassured Vajusi they would find the gun in the field.
After seeing Vajusi in the field again, the sergeant snapped: 鈥淚 need you to sit in the car鈥hat is my guidance to you.鈥�
Deputies found a gun in the backseat of the teen鈥檚 car. Vajusi was placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
unfolded as deputies say they were in pursuit of a stolen Nissan carrying three people, one possibly armed.
A 15-year-old was and released to county juvenile court authorities.
Vajusi asked for and received stress leave from the department after the shooting.
A鈥檃ishah Rogers, the mother of the injured teen, called it 鈥渁larming and disgusting鈥� that Vajusi shot another teenager so soon after shooting her son, who did not have a gun.
鈥淭hese are people we entrust to police our streets,鈥� she said. 鈥淎re they just hiring anybody?鈥�
Kalfani Ture, an assistant professor who studies police practices in Pennsylvania, called Vajusi a liability to taxpayers and a 鈥渞isk to the public.鈥� He urged the sheriff鈥檚 department to remove him from the field or send him for more training.
鈥淭his particular officer's immediate go-to is lethal force within split seconds of exiting his vehicle,鈥� Ture said. 鈥淗ow do you even ascertain the facts if you come out of your patrol vehicle already with your finger on the trigger?鈥�
Vajusi鈥檚 police background deserves extra scrutiny from sheriff鈥檚 leaders, Ture said.
鈥淭he pattern should be concerning to all,鈥� Ture said. 鈥淗e shop-hopped from agency to agency. Where there鈥檚 a pattern, there鈥檚 also smoke.鈥�