Police officer indicted on manslaughter charges in Mantua Township
Mantua Township Police Officer Salvatore Oldrati was charged with manslaughter after video footage showed him fatally shooting Charles Sharp.
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A Mantua Township police officer was indicted on Thursday for manslaughter in the death of Charles Sharp.
Officials say calls to 911 and body cam footage of the shooting released by the state’s Attorney General’s Office prove Oldrati fatally shot Sharp outside his home.
Sharp called 911 on Sep. 14, 2021 to report burglars in his backyard, and on the call he says one of them is armed. Sharp explains to the dispatcher that he threw a firecracker into his backyard to scare them away, but they came back.
"Well I looked out my window," Sharp can be heard saying. "The one guy was in my shed, getting my shed door open. And I came around to go outside to confront him and there was a guy messing up my truck, trying to get it open."
As cops get closer to Sharp's home, he has a .45 caliber gun. Corporal Robert Layton arrived on the scene and sees Sharp standing in his front yard with the gun in his hand. Oldrati appeared shortly after while Sharp was still on the phone with the dispatcher before opening fire.
Police say there was five seconds between Oldrati exiting his vehicle and fatally wounding Sharp with multiple shots.
Oldrati could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.
