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Lawsuit filed against Dayton Police
DAYTON — The estate of a man shot during a drug bust last year has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city of Dayton and the police department, demanding $50,000 in damages.
William O. Cass, Jr., administrator of the estate of Derrick J. Jordan, filed the lawsuit on Thursday, May 14. The complaint also lists Detective David L. House and an Officer “John Doe,” as defendants.
Jordan, 22, died May 30, nearly two weeks after he was shot. In October, a Montgomery County grand jury declined to indict either House or Detective Raymond St. Clair, because the jurors felt “there was no criminal liability,” according to the Montgomery County Prosecutor’s Office.
The lawsuit claims detectives “recklessly and with total disregard for the consequences, indiscriminately shot into the vehicle and thereby shot Derrick J. Jordan without legal cause, justification or excuse.”
The lawsuit seeks damages for medical expenses, funeral expenses, loss of support and services and the mental anguish incurred by Jordan’s next of kin. Jordan’s estate is seeking $25,000 plus interest in compensatory damages, plus $50,000 in punitive damages.”
City spokesman Tom Biedenharn said the city would not comment on a pending lawsuit.
During the May 15, 2008 drug bust, House fired into a car that had hit him and another detective as they tried to arrest Robert A. Moore, 19, one of four people in the car, on drug trafficking charges, according to police.
The driver, Charles D. Stargell Jr., 24, hit the gas as the detectives approached in a driveway between a McDonald’s and an Econo Lodge in the 2100 block of Edwin C. Moses Boulevard.
The car hit House, causing him to flip onto its hood, then St. Clair, causing him to accidentally discharge his weapon into the rear side passenger window on the driver’s side.
House fired a shot at the driver through the passenger side because he feared for the safety of others, police Chief Richard Biehl said later. The bullet struck Jordan, a passenger, in the head. He died May 30 at Miami Valley Hospital.
Stargell drove on as a passenger flipped a Cobra .380 semiautomatic gun out of a window. An unmarked police cruiser then rammed the car.
Moore pleaded guilty in September to one count of drug trafficking (cocaine) and was sentenced to three years in prison.
Stargell pleaded guilty Oct. 15, to single counts of felonious assault, failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer and complicity to drug trafficking (cocaine). He was sentenced to five years in prison.
Comments
By opie
May 18, 2009 4:36 PM | Link to this
OMG! Another waste of the Judicial System and our Tax Money. If Air Force fighters would have shot down one of the planes just before striking the WTC, would we be sued for that also? Choices must be made in seconds by these public servants, the deceased passenger had plenty of time to make their choice, hang out with an armed fugitive and risk it all -or- get out of the car…. DUH