Video Deposition of the Supervisor Who Ordered the False Arrest of Demetrius Kern

“I Jumped the Gun”: Sergeant Naftali Wolf’s Explosive Video Deposition Reveals Alleged Cover-Up and False Arrest of Demetrius Kern

In a case that has become a lightning rod for the discussion of civil rights and police accountability, the video deposition of Sergeant Naftali Wolf has provided a rare, unvarnished look into the mechanics of a disputed arrest. The litigation stems from a viral 2022 incident in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, involving Demetrius Kern, a citizen who found himself in handcuffs after a near-collision with a police cruiser. What began as a complaint about reckless driving evolved into a federal lawsuit alleging false arrest and malicious prosecution, and the sworn testimony of the supervisor who ordered that arrest is now at the heart of the legal storm.

The deposition, conducted by experienced civil rights attorneys, serves as more than just a legal formality; it is a meticulous deconstruction of an officer’s decision-making process under pressure. As Sergeant Wolf sat across from the legal team, he was forced to reconcile his actions on the scene with the undisputed video evidence captured by body-worn cameras and Kern’s own cell phone. The resulting dialogue is a compelling record of an official struggling to justify a “purpose-driven” arrest that even his own subordinate didn’t believe was warranted.

The Anatomy of a Near-Collision

The undisputed facts of the case set a chaotic stage. Demetrius Kern was driving when he was nearly struck by a police cruiser driven by Officer Carly Lewis. Rather than fleeing the scene, Kern pulled over—not because he was being stopped, but to obtain the officer’s name and badge number to file a formal complaint. For several minutes, he filmed the interaction, a right protected under the First Amendment.

Officer Lewis, however, had initiated her lights and sirens for an unrelated domestic violence suspect. When Kern pulled over, a “heated discussion” ensued. Lewis eventually called for backup, leading to the arrival of Sergeant Naftali Wolf. It is here that the situation took a “dire direction.” While Officer Lewis explicitly stated to Kern and Wolf that “there was no crime” and that she was “cool with letting him go,” Sergeant Wolf disagreed . He ordered the arrest of Kern for “obstruction of official business,” citing Kern’s refusal to provide identification as the primary justification.

The Admission: “I Was Jumping the Gun”

The most striking moment of the deposition occurred when Sergeant Wolf was confronted with his own statements to internal affairs. Under oath, Wolf admitted that he had “jumped the gun” in arresting Kern  He acknowledged that at the time of the arrest, he had no personal knowledge that Kern had any intent to purposefully obstruct Officer Lewis’s traffic stop.

Under Ohio law, a charge of obstructing official business requires a “purpose” to hamper or impede. In his deposition, Wolf was forced to admit that he had no evidence of such purpose. He had not asked Officer Lewis what had happened before his arrival, and he had not explored whether Kern was actually following Lewis’s previous instructions to wait on the sidewalk—which Lewis herself later confirmed Kern had done .

The Synagogue Parking Lot: A Narrative in the Making?

Perhaps the most troubling revelation in the deposition involves the events immediately following Kern’s arrest. Sergeant Wolf admitted that he met Officer Lewis in the parking lot of the nearby Park Synagogue to have a “small counseling session” about her reluctance to charge Kern .

Crucially, neither officer activated their body-worn cameras for this meeting, despite knowing that Kern had already threatened a lawsuit while at the scene . Civil rights lawyers argue that this secret meeting was a blatant attempt to “generate a narrative” and concoct an after-the-act justification for an arrest that both officers knew lacked probable cause. When asked why he didn’t just have the conversation at the scene, Wolf’s response was a simple and telling “I don’t know” .

The Legal Reality of Qualified Immunity

The Kern case highlights the immense difficulty of litigating civil rights lawsuits against law enforcement. The primary hurdle is “qualified immunity,” a legal doctrine that protects government officials from liability unless they violated a “clearly established” constitutional right.

In this case, the defense argues that Sergeant Wolf’s “feeling” that Kern was obstructing was enough to grant him immunity from prosecution. However, Kern’s legal team argues that the law is clear: merely refusing to identify oneself when no crime has been committed is not obstruction. They point to the fact that the prosecutor ultimately dismissed the charges against Kern as unfounded, citing a lack of probable cause

Demeanor and Credibility

One of the unique aspects of this deposition is that it was videotaped. As Kern’s attorney, Tom, questioned Wolf, the sergeant’s demeanor—characterized by pauses, vague answers, and frequent requests to “talk to my attorney”—became a part of the record . While a written transcript might seem sterile, the video provides a compelling look at a witness whose credibility is being tested in real-time.

Sergeant Wolf even admitted that he had been accused of “not being truthful” by an internal affairs detective in relation to this very case . This admission, combined with the lack of body camera footage from the synagogue meeting, creates a “pattern and practice” that will be difficult to ignore should the case proceed to a jury trial.

The Road Ahead

As it stands, the court has yet to decide whether the officers will receive qualified immunity or if a jury will hear the case. The evidence presented in the deposition of Sergeant Naftali Wolf is a powerful illustration of why these cases are so difficult yet so essential. It exposes the “bizarro world” of police justification, where a 1-second delay in a traffic stop can be used as a pretense for a felony arrest of a citizen exercising their First Amendment rights.

Demetrius Kern’s fight for justice continues, but the exposure of this deposition has already achieved one major goal: it has provided the public with the “actual facts” behind a viral headline. As the legal process unfolds, the testimony of Sergeant Wolf serves as a stark reminder that in a “civilized nation,” our rights do not end where an officer’s frustration begins. The quest for accountability is long and arduous, but as this case shows, the truth has a way of finding its way into the light—one deposition at a time.