By Elizabeth Miller
Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson has apologized to the family of Tamir Rice after the city filed a claim yesterdayasking that Rice’s estate pay $500 in ambulance fees. Officials say no one at the city was notified that the claim, which was closed last year, had been reopened.
Usually when the city discovers a source that may be able to pay outstanding charges, a claim is filed with that source. So when the executor of Tamir Rice’s estate requested a billing statement from the city earlier this week, that appeared to be a source able to pay the five-hundred dollar bill.
Mayor Frank Jackson says the routine nature of that process led to the claim.
"Somebody should have flagged this and said that “Hey, this is a little different than others, what should I do with this?” That did not happen," said Jackson.
An attorney for the Rice family calls the incident disturbing.
Rice was taken to a local hospital after being shot in November 2014 by a Cleveland police officer responding to a disturbance call at a local rec center. He later died from his wounds.
A grand jury looking into the case declined to bring charges against the Officers involved late last year.