AkronNewsNow.com

1965 Cop Killer To Stay In Prison
3/9/2010 3:16:53 PM | Summit County Prosecutor's Office News Release

Summit County Prosecutor Sherri Bevan Walsh expressed her appreciation today to the Ohio Parole Board for keeping a man behind bars who killed one Akron police officer and paralyzed two others in 1965.

advertisement

In a news release, Walsh said, "we are pleased that the Ohio Parole Board denied the release of Charles Jennings. For his crimes against these officers, Jennings was sentenced to life in prison. He was last seen by the Board in 2005. I opposed his release then, just as I do now. A man who injures and kills police officers should never be released!"

Jennings, who is now 70, will have his case reviewed again by the Ohio Parole Board for possible release in December 2014. Officer Eugene Hooper left behind a wife and two sons. Officer Frank Mancini and Harold Wintrow were left paralyzed for life. While Officer Mancini is still with us today, Officer Wintrow died in 1993 from an infection caused by a bedsore.

On the morning of April 10, 1965, Akron Police Officers Frank Mancini, Eugene Hooper, and Reserve Officer Wintrow heard a report of an Armed Robbery in Barberton, Ohio. Mancini, who was driving the car, pulled off to observe traffic headed from Barberton towards Akron. A short time later, a car matching the description of the holdup car passed heading north. The officers pursued the car, stopping it near the expressway. When Mancini attempted to place the handcuffs on the driver, Charles Jennings, he jerked away from Mancini and headed towards the rear of the car. As Mancini and Jennings wrestled, Jennings grabbed Mancini's weapon. Jennings shot and killed Akron Police Officer Hooper, and paralyzed Officer Frank Mancini and Reserve Officer Wintrow. At the time of his brutal attack on these officers, Jennings was on parole for Armed Robbery.

Walsh sent a letter to the Ohio Parole Board continuing to oppose the release of this inmate. She also encouraged Summit County Police Chiefs to do the same, and asked that they urge officers to write as well.

During Jennings' initial interview with police, he denied any knowledge of the shootings and alleged holdups that occurred on April 10, 1965. Eventually, Jennings admitted to all his other crimes that night and even admitted to being stopped by Car #7, but he refused to talk about the shooting. He only stated that if he had killed a policeman, he knew he was going to get the electric chair.

In 1965, Jennings was not sentenced to death. Instead, they sentenced him to life in prison.

Scroll Down for Comments | Printer Friendly version | Email to a Friend
Content © AkronNewsNow.com. All rights reserved.

Comments
AkronNewsNow.com reserves the right to delete posts, and we encourage readers to report potential inappropriate posts. We believe in vigorous and open discussion of public issues, but we do not permit spam, commercial sales, personal insults, personal attacks or extensive postings which are off-topic or inappropriate for reasons such as profanity, libelous content or simple respect for the opinions of others. Content is important, but so is behavior. Decisions by the editor are the sole discretion of AkronNewsNow.com.

posted at 3/9/2010 7:39:35 PM (20427)
misstia said:

life in prison should mean life in prison!

posted at 3/10/2010 4:39:48 AM (20431)
akronite51 said:

SBW and Strickland are two of the BEST political figures! They don't -foot when it comes to criminals!

posted at 3/10/2010 6:00:32 AM (20432)
stonewall said:

If he had killed a regular citizen he would have been released 25 yrs ago. Being a cop should not make a difference.

If you wish to leave a comment, please log in or register.