Columbus police have opened an internal investigation after Franklin County Commissioner Erica Crawley said a group she was with was unfairly targeted during a concert honoring veterans this summer at Historic Crew Stadium.
The division's inspector general said it is investigating after Crawley complained to Chief Elaine Bryant about "rude and discourteous behavior" of special duty police officers. Body camera footage shows nine special duty Columbus police officers responded to the VIP area of the Salute 250 concert at the request of security on July 2.
"What followed was an extraordinary escalation involving at least nine Columbus police officers," Crawley said in a statement issued on Sept. 25. "I walked into the enclosed VIP area to use the restroom
where two CPD officers followed me into the restroom while I was using it.
"At another point, I was physically grabbed by an officer as I attempted to speak with an event promoter that I called to come down to the area, threatened me with arrest and to be taken to jail, and told me that I was breaking the law, to which I asked: 'What law have I broken?'"
Crawley and four others were held up for about 20 minutes while police spoke to concert security and organizers, because of apparent confusion over whether they had the right passes to be in the VIP area. They ultimately were allowed to return to the concert, body camera footage shows.
In the videos, Crawley's position as a Franklin County commissioner comes up several times, including her oversight of the Franklin County jail and the commissioner's funding for the event. Some have questioned how Crawley responded to the attempts to remove the group from the venue.
At least one Columbus police officer, as well as one of the event organizers and the head of security, said that Crawley and her group had an "attitude," but the organizer said that the group had the correct wristbands and that they were allowed to be in the venue.
Bryant received a complaint on Aug. 6, according to the Columbus Division of Police, according to a letter to the DIG written that same day.
“The only reason we're getting involved is because the complaint was against our members," said Brian Steel, president of the Fraternal Order of Police Dewey R. Stokes Capital City Lodge No. 9, which represents several central Ohio law enforcement agencies.
"And if our members did violate policy, then we absolutely expect them to be held accountable. If an elected official was doing something improper – I’m not saying she was, by the way – we would expect that that be investigated and that elected official be held accountable. It's as easy as that.”
Crawley says she and her group were unfairly targeted
In her statement, Crawley, a Navy veteran, said that on July 2, she was attending the Veterans Service Commission Salute 250 concertwith four other guests. Crawley said she was at the concert in her official capacity as a commissioner, and that the county provided $250,000 in public funding for the event "to honor veterans, active-duty service members, military families and friends."
Crawley said she arrived at the stadium with her group, and they were provided wristbands by the Veterans Service Commission (VSC) that allowed them into the VIP area. Members of the VSC then escorted the group to the VIP section, Crawley said in her statement. Crawley and her party had been in that section for around 90 minutes before they moved outside to the patio area, Crawley said in her statement.
At that point, security personnel at the event repeatedly approached their group four times within 10 minutes and had their wristbands "repeatedly verified while other guests in the VIP area were not subjected to the same scrutiny," Crawley said in her statement.
Crawley said the treatment by security made her and her guests feel "unwelcome and uninvited at an event designed to foster patriotism." After the fourth time that security checked their wristbands, Crawley asked them, "Why are we being repeatedly singled out?," according to her statement. At that point, the group did not get a response or explanation and were told to return to their seats. She also alleged that they were cursed at and threatened to be removed by police.
In what Crawley called an "extraordinary escalation," at least nine Columbus police officers were hailed by security, and two officers followed Crawley into the restroom, which the body camera footage corroborates. The bathrooms did not have a specified gender on the door, and the officers told her that she had to leave before they go and stand outside of the door. Crawley also said that she was grabbed by another officer while she was talking to the event promoter, according to her statement.
On July 8 when she returned to work, Crawley said she requested that an employee who handles public records for the commissioners get body camera footage from Columbus police because she wanted an "objective record" of what happened that night.
The fees for that request, which an invoice from Columbus police said were over $300, were waived, but Crawley said that she nor anyone from her team asked for the fees to be waived, and that it's "normal" not to charge public entities for body camera footage. The footage was given to her 15 days later, Crawley said.
"The issue was that I would not silently accept being treated differently," Crawley said. "Additionally, let me be clear about what I said. As a commissioner, I help oversee the budget for the Franklin County jail. I know that system. When an officer told me I could go to jail, I told him I knew exactly how that works and I knew I had done nothing that would result in me getting arrested." Crawley also said that it shouldn't have been necessary for her to invoke her title as a commissioner "to be treated with dignity," and that she didn't use her title over the course of the incident.
"I am asking for transparency and accountability from everyone involved – including event security, event organizers, and the Columbus Division of Police," Crawley said. "I am also asking that the full body-camera footage be considered in any fair account of what happened that evening. There are nine body cameras that demonstrate everything I am saying is truth."
Incident started with confusion over wristbands, bodycam footage shows
Body camera footage from several Columbus police officers that night shows officers at the concert responding to some kind of disturbance involving Crawley's group.
One of the officers tries to get Crawley to leave the venue along with her group, but she refuses. She says that she's a funder of the event and tells the officers that they'll "get this all straightened out," and insists on staying in that part of the building until one of the event organizers, Zach Ruben, comes to explain the situation, according to the body camera footage.
A couple of minutes later, one of the officers appears to try and move Crawley, and an argument breaks out as one of the officers threatens to arrest Crawley and says that she has trespassed.
"I'm over the [Franklin County jail], so it doesn't matter," Crawley said. During that interaction, she says several times that she is a funder for the event, and other members of her party also say that she is a commissioner with Franklin County. Crawley also insists that she's not breaking any rules and repeatedly asks the officers how she is trespassing, the footage shows.
Several of the officers insist that Crawley is trespassing, and a back-and-forth between Crawley and the officers continues for several minutes. Crawley alleged that members of her group were being singled out and harassed by security personnel.
After more conversation, including a Columbus officer speaking with the head of security and event staff, they learn that one of the event staff members who was tasked with checking wristbands erred when she said that Crawley and her group had the incorrect wristbands on when they entered the venue. Another body camera angle shows one of the officers talking to a woman who was in Crawley's party, saying that the issue stemmed from security at the venue raising an issue about wristbands and whether Crawley's group had the correct ones.
"[Security] sent four people to check out wristbands, they didn't check anyone else's," Crawley is heard saying. Another angle from another officer shows Ruben, the event organizer, interacting with another man who appears to be working as security. Ruben tells the security person that he wants Crawley's group to stay, and that the organizers need to "deescalate" the situation. He also said he didn't approve of the way Crawley and her group reacted to the incident.
"This was unnecessary, bringing 10 cops in here on five women," Ruben said. "That's a Franklin County Commissioner. So, it's going to be a very big problem tomorrow."
In a statement that was also issued Sept. 25, Ruben said Crawley and her guests were provided access to the stadium's suites and hospitality areas, "including the lounge where I personally greeted her and other sponsors during the event."
Ruben also said the group regrets "the circumstances surrounding the evening have distracted from honoring our veterans, including Commissioner Crawley, and recognizing the service and sacrifice of the thousands of veterans and military families who joined us for the celebration."
Reporter Shahid Meighan can be reached at smeighan@dispatch.com, at ShahidMeighan on X, and at shahidthereporter.dispatch.com on Bluesky.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Footage shows tense interaction between county commissioner, Columbus PD
