Willie E. Gary, from the law firm of Gary, Williams, Finney, Lewis, Watson and Sperando in Florida, says that English’s death is an injustice that has racial overtones. Gary says the lawsuit will name Dayton police and others who are believed to be responsible for the death of English.
Gary announced the lawsuit Monday at the Dayton law firm of James R. Greene III and Associates. English was in police custody and being transported to the Montgomery County Jail on July 16. Police say he broke the rear door window of Officer Alex Magill’s cruiser, went through the window, and jumped off a Salem Avenue bridge. He fell 30 feet. He was later pronounced dead at Miami Valley Hospital.
“They are within their rights to (seek legal counsel),” said Dayton Police Maj. Robert Chabali of the department’s reaction to a possible lawsuit. Chabali is currently acting police chief while Chief Richard Biehl is out of town attending a conference. “The officer involved acted professional in a very difficult situation.”
Biehl told the Dayton Daily News late last week that the local office of the United States Attorney’s Office was still reviewing the Dayton Police Department’s handling of English while he was in the department’s custody.
English was taken into police custody on July 16 after a woman called police to report that he tried to kick down the door of her Yale Avenue residence. English was the boyfriend of the woman’s 16-year-old niece, who was being sheltered at the Yale address because English allegedly had assaulted her during the winter.