Police Shoot Innocent Man in Bed, No Charges Filed
Dustin Theoharis was asleep in his bed when a Department of Corrections officer, and King County Sherriff’s deputy rushed into his house, busted into his bedroom and began to unload their pistols on this unarmed man.
It is estimated that the two officers fired over 20 rounds of which 16 landed in Mr. Theoharis. According to Theoharis’s attorney, Erik Heipt, “Theoharis suffered “a broken shoulder, 2 broken arms, broken legs, he had a compression fracture to his spine, damage to his liver and spleen.”
The kicker here is that Theoharis was not the guy the police were after. According to King 5 news Seattle, The King County Sheriff’s deputy and Washington Department of Corrections officer who shot him were at the house to arrest a man who’d violated his parole. But in a search of the house after the shooting, they surprised Theoharis in the basement room he was renting.
Cole Harrison, who was at the house, described it this way: “They (the officers) rushed into that room like they were going to get somebody. I mean they rushed down there and then all of a sudden. Boom, boom, boom, boom.”
According to a review requested by Charles Gaither, a civilian watchdog of the Sheriff’s Office, which was conducted by a police accountability expert, Merrick Bobb, the officers refused to be interviewed on the scene and no internal investigation was ordered. In fact Deputy Aaron Thompson didn’t even issue a statement until a month later.
The report also suggests that the Sheriff’s Office did more to cover for the two officers than it did to investigate the shooting; citing an apparent conflict of interest right from the start. “Under KCSO policy, the first supervisor to arrive at the scene is obliged to assume control of the crime scene, direct involved personnel, and take on preliminary investigation responsibilities. (G.O. 6.02.015, subd. Clearly, given the sensitive issues that often accompany deadly force incidents, the neutrality of the supervisor needs to remain unquestioned. In this case, however, the first responding supervisor, KCSO Sergeant D, did not maintain the position of neutrality. Shortly after arriving on the scene, he switched roles from supervisor and neutral party to officer advocate.”
Also noted in the report is the severe incompetency or deliberate deficiency of the Sherriff’s Office when conducting the investigation. “Nonetheless, we were deeply troubled by serious deficiencies in the underlying investigation and the apparent unwillingness of KCSO to question its own officers about the use of deadly force once it appeared that they have not committed a crime. For example, the involved officers were not immediately interviewed about their actions, but instead were given over a month to provide a written account of the shooting. In addition, physical evidence was overlooked or moved, witness interviews were not thorough, and inconsistencies were not adequately addressed.”
Meanwhile, Dustin Theoharis has undergone 12 surgeries and will never be the same again. This is a travesty of justice and yet another example of how the state can shield themselves from crimes they commit by being above the law. Sadly stories like this one are becoming more frequent as police forces are militarized across the country. “Protecting” and “Serving” are seemingly being replaced with “Oppressing” and “Silencing.”
Source:
http://www.realfarmacy.com/cops-shoot-innocent-man-in-bed/
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Whistler Blowers, Insiders
America, DO something!
What should American’s do? We vote, it does not seem to matter. We sue. It does not seem to matter. The corruption is so deep and societies morals are so low that we need a reset button.
Societies morals are not low, it’s the people in charge who lack empathy for society that is the problem. They are only in it for themselves.
Sometimes voting is not enough. You vote and then go back to your life, and don’t know anything more about what’s going on until it’s time to vote again. What about being involved along the way. Do you write your rep and senator regularly about issues as they happen.
I think you are right, that corruption is so deep, America needs a coup in order to save it.
well it will not be long before our civil war breaks out, will only take a spark and then the bullets will fly! question is when ? i bet before the years end !
One Day the Poor Will Have Nothing Left to Eat but the Rich
This is the new AmericaKa – The USSA!
What should Americans do?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Zq4f6WYmHU&feature=youtu.be
Revolution: An Instruction Manual
Cops cover for cops, they all become criminals and co-conspirators by silent acceptance of known lies, judges and prosecutors turn a blind eye, shooting review boards rubber stamp every shooting as justified, police chiefs ALWAYS say the shooting was justified,..
I’m actually surprised that this poor guy wasn’t charged with resisting arrest! Its blindingly obvious they were there to MURDER the person they were looking for!!! THE COPS WHO WERE THERE ARE A HIT SQUAD!
NEVER TRUST THE POLICE!! THEY ARE ALL LYING MURDEROUS SCUMBAGS!!!
NEW RULE…..COPS THAT BUST IN DOORS GET BLOWN AWAY!
They live and play and eat somewhere……if that was one of my family…..well lets just say justice would be served as it should be……whoops wrong guy sorry.
More of the story:
By Emily Smith, Thu, July 11, 2013
Dustin Theoharis is suing a King County sheriff’s deputy and a Department of Corrections officer after the two barged into his home and shot him 16 times.
The claim has been filed against the Department of Corrections for $20 million to support Theoharis in a life that doctors said will never be the same.
The young man had his 12th surgery this week.
Sheriff’s detective Aaron Thompson and Department of Corrections specialist Kris Rongen said they were searching for a man who had violated parole when they knocked down Theoharis’ door.
Theoharis was not that man.
They reportedly saw Theoharis in bed reaching for a gun — though there were no weapons found in the apartment after an investigation — and shot in self-defense.
“I would say they opened the door and started shooting,” said Shane Harrison, Theoharis’ roommate.
On Wednesday, county leaders gathered to hear a report justifying the officers’ actions, with many questioning how deadly force became necessary.
“I haven’t seen anything to suggest that they’ve acknowledged any wrongdoing or mistakes,” said his attorney, Erik Heipt. “Nothing about ordering new training or anything.”
King County has agreed to pay $3 million to avoid litigation while the sheriff’s office and police guild bargain to make recommended changes.
AND MORE
Relations between the King County Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Corrections (DOC) have been strained after a sheriff’s detective and a corrections officer reportedly shot a man about 16 times, severely wounding him during a joint operation that took an unexpected turn.
Both agencies, in separate reviews, found the shooting last year to be justified, but lingering questions about whether the confrontation could have been avoided or handled differently led the Sheriff’s Office to tighten its oversight of a longstanding program in which it works closely with the DOC to apprehend so-called high-impact offenders and gang members, according to newly disclosed records.
The fallout also prompted newly elected Sheriff John Urquhart to indefinitely suspend some operations with the DOC because its officer wouldn’t cooperate with the sheriff’s shooting-review board.
The incident occurred inside an Auburn-area house Feb. 11. The man who was shot, Dustin Theoharis, now 29, survived multiple wounds to his arms, legs, torso and jaw, including fractures that required a series of surgeries.
“He is thankful to be alive, but he has a long way to go to recover,” said his attorney, Erik Heipt, of Seattle.
Heipt said Theoharis was shot about 16 times and plans to file a civil suit in which a key issue will be whether the officers had justification to enter the room in which he was shot, Heipt said.
“We think it’s pretty clear that they didn’t,” Heipt said.
The shooting
DOC Specialist Kris Rongen, assisted by sheriff’s Detective Aaron Thompson, went to the house to serve a felony arrest warrant on an ex-offender — someone other than Theoharis — who had failed to report to community supervision. Two other sheriff’s detectives joined them.
After taking the ex-offender, Nicholas Harrison, into custody, Thompson and Rongen learned that Theoharis was in a different part of the house, according to a summary prepared by King County prosecutors who reviewed the incident. They decided to check whether Theoharis had a gun, which would be a violation of Harrison’s probation.
Rongen and Thompson headed to a dark room where Theoharis was lying in a bed.
“Specialist Rongen and Detective Thompson said that they identified themselves, gave Mr. Theoharis commands that he did not comply with, that he said he had guns, and that it appeared that he was reaching for one,” according to a report by the sheriff’s shooting review board.
In a written statement, Thompson said he believed Theoharis was reaching for a gun between the box spring and the mattress.
Rongen and Thompson both fired their handguns, hitting Theoharis as he rolled off the bed.
No firearms were found in the room. A flashlight was found in a pool of blood next to the bed, and an end table within reaching distance contained aluminum cans and a variety of objects, including two remote controls, according to the prosecutors’ summary.
Also found in the room were heroin, needles, spoons and a scale with heroin residue, although no criminal charges were filed against Theoharis.
The investigations
Prosecutors declined in June to bring criminal charges against Thompson and Rongen, citing a lack of evidence that they had acted outside of legal boundaries.
The DOC, in an internal shooting review, found that Rongen had followed department policies.
But in a separate report, a DOC team recommended the department clarify the process for checking all areas of a residence, establishing training “so staff learns the actual process of safely sweeping a residence and engaging 3rd party individuals.”
The Sheriff’s Office, in a series of reviews, concluded the shooting was justified but found fault with the decision-making by Thompson and Rongen that led up to the confrontation, according to documents obtained by The Seattle Times under public-disclosure requests.
An internal investigation found that Rongen and Thompson did not ask the owner of the house or the target of the arrest warrant “anything about the occupant of the room, if there were weapons present or if the person permanently lived at the residence.”
They also “made no plans” with the other detectives who were present and did not contact a supervisor, according to a Sept. 23 memorandum that led to a sustained finding that Thompson had not followed department policies.
“He and Officer Rongen should have slowed down and discussed the possible ‘Third Party,’ with the other Detectives to determine a safe course of action,” the memorandum said, noting that a supervisor should have been at the location.
Most pointedly, the memo concluded that the breakdowns stemmed from a “systemic problem that needs to be addressed by the Sheriff’s Office and not on the back of one Detective.”
“The current issue is a lack of training and expertise where extensive training and expertise is necessary,” the memo said. “This falls on the supervision and command staff of the Sheriff’s Office and will be addressed accordingly.”
A checklist
The Sheriff’s Office also adopted temporary measures in August to address until “a number of questions” were resolved arising from its joint effort with the DOC — known as the Neighborhood Corrections Initiative (NCI) — in which Thompson alone had participated in at least 500 searches since 2007.
Among the requirements is that a threat assessment and residential-entry checklist be approved by a supervisor for all operations, including the approval of a commander when the risk involves suspected firearms or the need for a search warrant.
Deputies may assist DOC officers for their safety when investigating probation violations, but deputies are required to be aware of standards regarding searches of people, homes and property and limitations on searching “third party” residences and private areas.
A supervisor is required to be present at all operations in which an offender is suspected of having guns or previously possessing firearms, or is a confirmed gang member.
Urquhart intervenes
Those changes remain in place, Urquhart said in an email to The Times last week.
“All that being said, it’s a moot point because relatively soon after I was sworn in I indefinitely suspended the operation of the NCI Team out of the Burien precinct, pending a meeting between DOC and me,” Urquhart said.
Urquhart said he was concerned that Rongen, “according to what he told us,” was not allowed by DOC to participate in the Sheriff’s Office Shooting Review Board. That, Urquhart said, made him “uncomfortable” embedding a DOC officer in a sheriff’s unit without an understanding such cooperation would be provided.
Deputies will continue to assist DOC in other circumstances, he said.
DOC spokesman Chad Lewis said the department had not received formal notice of Urquhart’s directive.
But Corrections Secretary Bernie Warner and the head of the department’s community corrections division, Anmarie Aylward, plan to meet with Urquhart in the next few weeks to discuss concerns about the Neighborhood Corrections Initiative in hopes of maintaining what has been a good relationship, Lewis said.
Thompson has asked the King County Police Officers Guild to represent him in response to the findings of the internal investigation, which produced a recommendation that nondisciplinary training be provided to him and others who do the same kind of work.
Urquhart said that he has approved a tentative curriculum and that training was being scheduled.
First and foremost we must recognize that they are all not human. That’s the problem. We assume that all these so called people are human. They are not.
Psychopaths protecting psychopaths.
Sounds like that entire department needs to be arrested, the two officers who opened fire on an innocent, unarmed man, need to be charged with attempted murder, they are the real criminals. Shame on this entire Sheriff’s department, is this really the kind of world they want to live in? Is it the kind of world that they want their children and grandchildren to have to live in? We read similar stories every day, any law enforcement officers anywhere who behave like this are a disgrace to themselves, to their families, to their town, to their country and to their God. These cowards, which is what they are, need to do some deep soul searching, they are traitors to all of humanity.
USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA USSA!
Eye for an Eye…
I thought this sort of thing was only supposed to happen “in those high crime states like california and the carolinas. The police in washington are way too liberal for that.”
Yeah I’m sure. One thing for sure: if it wears a badge, it’s not to be trusted.
Stay frosty people.
In the Bible…do unto others as they do unto you…perhaps mobs need to start rushing into police stations and start capping their asses…
i think im starting to feel religious
Well done to the cops! I still remember the day I was pulled over by a black cop in Houston Texas in Piney Point. He made me suffer the bugger by kicking me, jerking me around verbally abusing me. I can still remember him saying to that ” The president is black, I’m black and you’re white so ill handle you like I will you white pig”. So, that’s why I left the USA, I live in Australia now. What freedom I have now. The cops are so great, friendly and awesome. I got stopped the other day, the cop said to me it appears that my left indicator is not working. He just managed to have a light bulb handy and helped me change it over and send me safe driving wishes on my way! America is doomed! It’s your own fault if you still stay there.
That is absolutely amazing! Cops are that kind??!!
You left because you are a criminal Marius Landman.
Did you forget about that part?
Here’s what we can do. Go to http://www.nationallibertyalliance.org and sign up to be a common law jurist in your area. There’s a lot of very important, potent information on the front page of this site. Need to act fast.
If you vote, you have no reason to complain. You give validity to a system that has been completely broken for 50+ years. One definition of insanity is to continue to do the same act over and over and expect different results.