Continuing coverage
This news organization has followed the aftermath of the fatal police-involved shooting of John Crawford III inside the Walmart in Beavercreek for two years and will continue to provide updates on important developments in this story.
Beavercreek police officer Sean Williams and Sgt. David Darkow may have to submit to depositions in the John Crawford III wrongful death lawsuit before a U.S. Dept. of Justice investigation is over, a federal magistrate ruled.
In approving a further stay of discovery until further order of the court, U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge Michael Newman also ordered attorneys to set a new case calendar.
RELATED: Officer who shot Crawford used force 10 times more than departmental average
“The undersigned acknowledges the significant interests of Plaintiffs and the public in moving this case to conclusion, as well as the potential prejudice that may occur to Plaintiffs should the stay in this civil case continue over the next several months,” Newman wrote in an Aug. 10 docket entry.
Newman ordered the parties to discuss “an agreeable date upon which the limited stay shall cease in the event the Department of Justice (DOJ) investigation continues without conclusion over the next several months,” he wrote, “The parties shall also discuss the feasibility of limited depositions of Defendants Williams and Darkow in the meantime.”
On Aug. 5, 2014 at Beavercreek’s Walmart, Williams shot Crawford, a 22-year-old Fairfield native, after a lone 911 caller said a black man was waving a rifle at people including children.
Beavercreek police said Williams and Darkow twice told Crawford to drop the item — an air rifle he picked up from an open box in the store — and then Williams fired twice “center mass” as he told investigators.
His family said Crawford — who was talking on his cell phone — had less than a second to react to any commands. A Greene County special grand jury led by special prosecutor Mark Piepmeier in September 2014 did not indict Williams, who remains on administrative duty as decided by Beavercreek police Chief Dennis Evers.
The no true bill in the criminal case led the DOJ to announce a full investigation of the probe done by Ohio’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation.
Outside of an April statement by acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio Benjamin Glassman saying that the probe “has taken longer than some may have anticipated,” no federal officials have commented on investigation that turns two years old Sept. 24.
Attorneys for Crawford’s parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Beaverceek and Walmart in December 2014 and sent a letter to U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch asking that the DOJ decision be announced no later than Aug. 31.
About the Author