Family files $30 Million Dollar Suit: Black Man Allegedly Running from Baltimore Police, Fatally Shot in the Back
Friday, April 22, 2005 at 10:58PM
TheSpook
Relatives of a man shot and killed by
Baltimore police last year are suing the department, claiming Dexter
Hill was shot in the back as he ran away from officers. They're seeking
30 million dollars in damages from the officers, the department and
Mayor Martin O'Malley. Attorneys for Hill's family say the 37-year-old
carpenter and construction worker was walking on an East Baltimore
street on March 17th, 2004, when he was stopped, searched and
questioned by plainclothes officers. The unit stopped the carpenter and
father of four as he walked North Bethel Street in east Baltimore. "Mr.
Hill kneeled on the ground and put his hands in the air and said, 'I
don't have anything, all I have is a dollar in my pocket,'" said Janell
Byrd, an attorney for Hill's family. According to department policy,
officers must identify themselves as police, even while in plain
clothes. The lawsuit does not indicate that the officers identified
themselves and states that Hill ran from police, but it doesn't mention
why, Collins said The attorneys say Hill hid behind a tree, and
when he got up to run again, Officer Mark Walrath saw him and shot him
in the back from a distance. Walrath claimed that Hill had tried to
charge him with a wooden board and was shot in self-defense. But the
attorneys say that's not what eyewitnesses saw, and the only board
found at the scene was too large and unwieldy to be used as a weapon. The
lawsuit also alleges a police cover-up, accusing officers of ordering
witnesses to leave the scene. The lawsuit also alleges that residents
covertly saw that police had moved the body, Collins reported. [more] and [more]
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