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Trooper charged with assault for shooting at teen
Josey1
Member Posts: 9,598 ✭✭
Trooper charged with assault for shooting at teen Totaro says use of deadly force was not justified Thursday, January 10 http://www.lancasteronline.com/intell_news/trooperc.shtm Trooper By Brian ChristopherIntelligencer Journal Staff A state trooper was charged Wednesday with aggravated assault for shooting at an unarmed 13-year-old as he ran from the scene of a traffic accident along Route 30 in August, police said.Seventeen-year police veteran Charles E. Cox, Jr., 45, of Coatesville, also was charged with two counts of reckless endangerment in connection with the Aug. 18 incident near the Greenfield Road overpass.The boy, whose identity has not been released because he is a minor, was not hit by the bullets, but suffered a minor hand injury while running from the officer.Cox, who had been assigned to administrative duties at the Embreeville station during the investigation, now has been suspended without pay by state police Commissioner Paul J. Evanko.District Justice Richard Musser released Cox on his own recognizance Wednesday pending a preliminary hearing tentatively scheduled for Jan. 29.Lancaster County District Attorney Donald Totaro approved the charges filed by state police Lt. David Kreiser, who handled the state's investigation."The use of deadly force was not justified under these circumstances and the results could have been tragic," Totaro said.The incident began about 1:45 a.m. when Mount Joy police Officer Joseph Goody began following a speeding vehicle on Route 230. The youth, driving his grandmother's Dodge Dart, did not stop for the officer and continued on Route 283.Goody followed the youth for several miles until they both entered an area of Route 30 that was under construction at the time. The youth passed a large truck in the construction zone, losing Goody temporarily.Unknown to the officer, traffic was stopped a short distance ahead for construction workers near the Greenfield Road overpass.Trooper Cox was helping to block one lane of traffic when a member of the construction crew approached him.Frank McKenna, 40, had been alerted by cell phone of the approaching police pursuit. He asked Cox if he knew what was happening. The trooper said he did not."As McKenna started to tell him there was a chase coming their way, a car struck the mobile signboard that was parked in the left lane to the west of their location," according to the arrest affidavit.Unable to continue, the youth abandoned the car and began running south toward the parking lot of the nearby R.R. Donnelley printing plant."The trooper went after him and yelled for him to halt or stop," John Dilda, 38, of Paradise, told police.Dilda and several other motorists saw Cox "fire three times at the driver as the driver was running away."Witnesses said the lighting was good in the area and that they never saw the youth turn around toward the trooper.The youth ran through the parking lot where several Donnelley employees were standing. One of the employees showed Goody, who arrived after the shooting, where the boy had run. Cox had not followed the youth into the parking lot.After Goody captured the suspect, the youth said "he was running away from his car when he was shot at, and heard at least one bullet come very close to hitting him."Two bullets were later recovered from the parking lot and were determined to have come from Cox's gun.Trooper Todd Hershey, who also was in the area that night, told investigators Cox "admitted he shot at the individual three times while the individual was running away," according to court records.For several days after the incident, the state police did not issue a press release about the shooting. Police also did not report it to the district attorney, which is required by state law, until contacted by an Intelligencer Journal reporter.At the time, Frank Pawlowski, the commanding officer of the local state police barracks, said they were not attempting to conceal the shooting. "Administratively, it fell between the gaps," Pawlowski said.After Cox's arrest, Pawlowski said, "Cox's actions on Aug. 18 were inconsistent with the training he has received as a state trooper throughout his career."Totaro said he has "received a tremendous amount of cooperation" from the state police during the investigation."To ensure the public does not lose confidence in their law enforcement officers, through distrust or fear, police officers must conduct themselves with the highest standards of professionalism."Those who fail to do so must be held legally accountable for their actions."
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