Photo by Julie Strupp
Attorneys for the D.C. government have admitted that D.C. police pursued Terrence Sterling before Officer Brian Trainer fatally shot him on September 11, which violates a Metropolitan Police Department policy, according to Fox 5 News.
A copy of the civil suit filed by Sterling’s family against the city and MPD, which was obtained by the news outlet, says that an unknown officer drove his police car into an intersection to stop Sterling from passing, according to Fox 5.
It’s against D.C. Police policy to chase any vehicle for a traffic offense. And officers must get permission from a supervisor to do so. In response to the claim, attorneys representing the District replied, “Admitted. Further answering, the officers were pursuing Mr. Terrence Sterling who was fleeing at the time,” Fox 5 reports.
D.C. Police originally said that Sterling intentionally drove his motorcycle into the passenger door of a police cruiser following reports of reckless driving around Mount Vernon Square.
However, witness Kandace Simms told Fox 5 after the incident that “the motorcycle was trying to speed off and drive away, but he couldn’t because he was kind of caught in between the sidewalk at the curb and the police car. So the police were trying to open the passenger side door and he couldn’t because the motorcycle was right there, and I guess when he couldn’t open the door, he rolled down his window and shot twice.”
Two sources familiar with the investigation told Fox 5 that when the report of a motorcyclist driving recklessly was first broadcasted by police, a supervisor told the officers not to pursue him.
D.C.’s expansive police body-worn camera program exists to clear up what occurred in instances like this one, but Trainer’s camera was not recording. Since then, the policy was changed to require that dispatchers remind officers to turn their cameras on before an interaction and officers must confirm that they have done so.
Bowser’s administration released footage from the body-worn camera which an officer turned on after the shooting, which depicts aftermath of the scene, as well as Trainer’s name, in late September. It marked the first time MPD released the name of an involved officer.
A D.C. Police spokesperson told DCist that “we cannot comment on pending litigation.” We’ve also reached out to Mayor Muriel Bowser’s office and will update when we hear back.
The case is also being investigated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which opened a grand jury investigation in November. The two officers involved in the case have been on administrative leave since the incident.
Protesters have pledged to return to the site of Sterling’s death every Monday to demonstrate.
