An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified one of the Charles County sheriff's officers who shot Cornelius Maurice Warren. His name is John Freeman. Officer Eric Leukhardt was at the scene but did not fire his weapon.
2 Charles sheriff's officers cleared in fatal traffic stop
Indian Head man was shot 8 times Grand jury finds no criminal wrongdoing
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Two Charles County sheriff's officers involved in the shooting death of Cornelius Maurice Warren will not face criminal charges, police said last week.
Warren, 44, of Indian Head, was killed Oct. 2 after a traffic stop. Of the 11 shots fired, eight hit Warren, according to police.
Police and a passenger of Warren's told a grand jury that after a K-9 unit made an exterior search of Warren's sport-utility vehicle, Warren agreed to let the officers search inside the vehicle. Police found marijuana and crack with potential street values of $4,000 and $12,000, respectively. The unidentified passenger was granted immunity from possible drug charges for testifying.
When Stephen Miller, 39, a three-year sheriff's officer, opened the driver's side door to arrest Warren, Warren began to drive off, according to police and a dashboard camera video released to the media. Miller jumped into the driver's seat and put the car in neutral. A struggle ensued between Warren and Miller, police said, and Warren attempted to grab the officer's gun.
Sheriff's Officer John Freeman, 36, a 10-year veteran who had followed Warren's SUV in his cruiser, saw the struggle over the gun and fired at Warren, Maj. Joe Montminy said at a news conference. Then Miller was able to get his gun, and he fired at Warren.
Officer Eric Leukhardt, 35, an 11-year veteran, was at the scene but did not fire his weapon. After hearing from witnesses, including Warren's passenger, a grand jury concluded Nov. . 6 that "there was no criminal wrongdoing," said Montminy, the Charles County assistant sheriff.
On Tuesday, the office of State's Attorney Leonard C. Collins Jr. concluded "both officers' use of force was not unreasonable given the danger Mr. Warren presented when he grabbed the officer's gun," according to a statement.
F. Scott Lucas, an attorney for Warren's family, said neither he nor the family has seen the full 20-minute police dashboard video of the incident.
"Our investigation is continuing," Lucas said. "We always wanted to see the full tape. We want to talk to some people. . . . Then the family will be in a position to make some decisions on how to move forward."
The Charles County NAACP had demanded the release of the video to the public and called for a federal investigation.
"We thought the shooting was unwarranted. So many things happened in that stop that could have prevented this thing escalating to what happened," said William Braxton, county NAACP president. "It is one of those situations for the family and for the community we've got to follow through with everything we think was done wrong and follow that right to the end."
Mobile
Email