In most cases, whenever an officer is pursuing a fleeing suspect, they have a lot of discretion in how they handle the situation. In fact, personal injury plaintiffs are often told that the police officers involved in their injury has immunity. But there are times when a police officer goes way beyond what is reasonable. This was the case in Temple, Texas this week.
Police officer Carmen William DeCruz was charged this week in the death of driver, Michael Lorenzo Dean.
The charges stem from an incident that happened on December 2, 2019. Officer Carmen DeCruz was trying to pull over a driver who was speeding. DeCruz was in a marked car and had his red and blue lights flashing.
The driver refused to pull over and DeCruz continued his pursuit. The driver finally stopped. When he did, the officer pulled his patrol car in front of his vehicle in order to block him. He also drew his issued gun. When DeCruz attempted to pull the keys out of the suspect’s hand, he had his other hand on the trigger of his gun. He ended up yanking the keys at the same time his finger pulled on the trigger. He shot Dean in the head, killing him instantly.
The Temple police department confirmed today that DeCruz was indeed being charged with 2nd degree manslaughter for the death of Dean. Certainly, we expect the victim’s family to consider pursuing a claim for wrongful death against the police department and Officer DeCruz.
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