A white former
Former Officer
Plowden, dazed and unarmed, was holding his empty left hand in front of his face when Ruch fired the fatal shot, prosecutors said. Four other officers who were on the scene and had taken cover did not fire their weapons, according to a grand jury presentment.
The grand jury said Ruch shot Plowden in the head without justification as Plowden looked “dazed and lost on the sidewalk."
“Ruch intentionally fired on
Ruch, who was fired about 10 months after the shooting, turned himself in Friday to face charges of first-degree murder, third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and possession of an instrument of crime. Prosecutors expected him to be held without bail.
The police union said its lawyers will defend the former officer.
“We will represent former police officer
It remained unclear why police sought to stop Plowden's car in the first place. According to the grand jury, Ruch and his partner began following Plowden and asked police dispatch to check the registration of his car.
Ruch's partner told investigators after the shooting that they had stopped Plowden's
But other officers said they were unaware of the patrol alert — which had not been broadcast over police radio — and all the information sought by Ruch from police dispatch was already contained in the alert, the grand jury said.
“There’s no information on the police radio before the incident that indicates that anyone knew for sure that this vehicle may have been involved in a homicide,” Assistant District Attorney
The grand jury said three of the four officers present for the shooting testified they did not see Plowden raise his left hand, while the fourth said he didn't recall what Plowden was doing with it.
Other eyewitnesses said Plowden was on his back and struggling to sit up when he was shot, with one saying Plowden was gesturing with his left hand in front of his face.
The lawsuit filed by Plowden's wife said he was propping himself up with his right arm while holding out his left hand in a vain attempt to prevent Ruch from shooting him. A medical examiner said the bullet tore through the fingers of Plowden’s left hand before hitting him in the head, indicating the hand was raised, according to the grand jury.
Officers also said they saw Plowden's right hand in his pocket, with one saying “it looked like he had a gun in there,” the grand jury said. The other eyewitnesses did not mention Plowden's right hand.
Ruch fired the fatal shot just 6 to 8 seconds after getting to the crash scene, the grand jury said.
Hetznecker, the lawyer for Plowden's wife, said that police had no probable cause to stop the car, and that officers' statements were an attempt to justify the fatal shooting.
“I'm glad to see the grand jurors saw through that,” he said.
Plowden was taking classes to get his high school diploma and was learning the construction trade at the time of his killing. He left behind two children and three stepchildren, including an infant son who is now 3.
“I am happy that Ruch was charged with the murder of Dennis,” Plowden’s wife,
She said she wants to know “whether Ruch has any remorse and anything to say to us. I just want to know, has Ruch ever thought about my family?”
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