Posted on 07/30/2007 11:08:32 AM PDT by Abathar
GARY, Ind. -- A teenager shot to death by an officer as he fled a burglary scene may have tried to pull up his sagging pants, causing the officer to mistake the movement for a reach for a weapon, according to newly filed court documents.
In a motion to dismiss a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by Vincent Smith Jr.'s father, the city of Gary suggests the 16-year-old was shot as he was reaching down to hoist up his drooping pants and sprint away from Officer Levi Randolph.
"Police officers have to make a lot of split-second decisions," said city attorney Donald Levinson. "The law does not say you have to wait until someone shoots at you (to act)."
The city's motion includes photographs of Smith's body, his underwear clearly riding above his jean's sagging waist, laying in the alley behind a house he was apparently burglarizing.
Randolph, who was indicted in March for the Jan. 15 shooting, faces up to eight years in prison if convicted in the killing.
The officer claims he thought Smith was reaching to pull a gun as the teen walked out the back door of the house. Randolph said he fired at Smith but missed when the teen reached toward his pants before sprinting through the backyard.
Randolph said that after Smith scaled an 8-foot fence and dropped to the ground, he turned toward the pursuing officer and again reached into his pants. Randolph fired again and struck Smith behind the left ear, killing him instantly.
In both cases, Levinson suggests in his filing that Smith was gathering up his sagging pants in anticipation of sprinting away.
Low-hanging pants that wearers must frequently hoist have become a hip-hop fashion statement popularized by rappers. Sagging pants are said to have their roots in prison culture, where inmates were often issued ill-fitting pants and belts were banned.
Douglas Hobson, an attorney for Vincent Smith Sr., said police training should better prepare officers to make split-second judgments to prevent shooting suspects who pose no threat.
"You've got to know there is a gun or something that is going to hurt someone. If these kinds of excuses justify something like that, then we've got a long way to go," he said.
Last month, I saw a guy in charleston wv skateboarding down a street while holding up his big pants with the other hand.
I swear, I laughed so hard I almost peed on myself.
Personally have heard that it comes from prisons where belts aren't allowed so that prisoners don't hang themselves (or others) or garret people. If the pants they issue you are too big, then they'll tend to sag.
Really depends on angle of entry, but it is perfectly possible to shoot someone from the front and have an angled intry into the skull behind the ear, especially if the perp was starting turn his head even slightly, beginning to scan for which direction to run. Behind the ear doesn’t necesarily mean in the crease behind the ear.
Backwards ballcaps, another sign of stupidity that crosses all race lines.
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Or of a neck that is getting red.
I know, but it sounds more like he was turning to run ( again) or was running away.
Either way it doesn’t look good for the cop’s credibility and/or judgment.
There should be a law that all would-be criminals be provided a government-issued belt, so that police can’t mistake their pulling their pants up for pulling a gun. They have a right to be treated fairly./s
I do not know where saggin started but having been around the local police “a lot” I know that some drug dealers keep their stash in a pocket in the sag. Some pants even have a false crotch sewn in.
They also have been known to carry their firearms there as some police are hesitant to search the crotch. Also as one poster here noted the scum also booby trap the crotch.
My thought is “Another one bites the dust!!!!!!”
Can’t bring myself to show any sympathy for the alleged britches puller.
Don’t mess with the fashion police.
That is fantastic! You are poet and don’t know it!!!Terrific...LOL>
““Depends on where the exit wound is. If it was behind the other ear then it’s ok, if it came out his right eye socket then there may be some questions to answer. I think if that was the case the lawyer would have been all over that point in court.”
There is still no way to shoot someone facing you behind the ear, even from the side.
“
Possible scenario:
The badguy jumps the fence, faces the officer, reaches to pull up his trousers and begins turning to the right to continue his flight. Depending on how the officer was trained to shoot, a headshot may have been indicated (immediate threat indicator ie a draw stroke). If the officer targeted the head and the badguy was turning as the shot broke, he could have taken the hit behind the left ear.
In teens that have never seen fieldwork, I mean. No slam on hard working Southerners implied.
There is still no way to shoot someone facing you behind the ear, even from the side.
Remember the MSM is telling you this information. If the MSM tells me the sun is rising I still look out the window to verify.
They’re the people who put the “fake” in “fake but accurate.”
Kudo’s .. that’s great
Nah, he could have been turning at the exact moment the officer fired.
People need to stop the armchair quarterbacking unless there obvious misalignments between the officer’s story and the angle of entry. Sloppy reporting isn’t one of them.
“No, but the cop’s story doesn’t make sense and if used in court he will likely lose.”
Goblin looks at cop, pulls pants up to run, cop believes he’s going for a weapon, cop aims-prepares to fire, goblin turns to run again just as cop squeezes trigger, cop has no reflex time to slack off on trigger, goblin learns stupidity can be a capital offense in the real world.
I’m with you...no tears here.
Punk needed galluses.
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