Video spurs probe request

Cruiser camera footage raises NAACP suspicions

Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2009

Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by GRETCHEN PHILLIPS William Braxton, president of the Charles County chapter of the NAACP, speaks Friday during a press conference to dispute the county's sheriff's office account of a police shooting that killed Cornelius Warren in Pisgah last month. Pictured are Warren's grandmother, Annabelle Warren, left; his father, Isaiah Warren; his brother, Robert Warren; his mother, Mary Warren; his brother, Sherwin Warren; and the family's attorney, F. Scott Lucas. E-Mail This Article | Print This Story Click here to enlarge this photo Warren

After watching dashboard camera footage of two officers shooting a Pisgah man last month, Charles County NAACP members are calling on federal authorities to investigate the killing, which the group called unwarranted at a Friday press conference.

The Oct. 2 shooting of Cornelius Warren, 44, is "deeply troubling" and raises questions about how a routine traffic stop escalated to a deadly confrontation, said William Braxton, president of the county branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The group has asked the Office of the U.S. Attorney General to review the incident, Braxton said.

Braxton wouldn't describe what the police in-car camera footage showed, saying the sheriff allowed NAACP members to review the recording on the condition that they wouldn't publicize the information. However, he said the sheriff's office account of the shooting doesn't line up with the video.

"The NAACP feels the action of police led to the fatal shooting of Mr. Warren," Braxton said.

Police reported they initially pulled over Warren for speeding, but during the stop on Nelson Point Road in Pisgah, they allegedly found a large amount of marijuana in his Chevrolet Tahoe. At some point, as Warren tried to flee in the SUV, he began struggling with police and grabbed for an officer's handgun, according to the sheriff's office. Two of the three officers on the scene fired 11 shots at Warren, police reported.

According to Braxton, Sheriff Rex W. Coffey described Warren as a "dope dealer and a real bad guy," and the NAACP chapter president said he believes sheriff's officers might have escalated the Oct. 2 confrontation because of Warren's criminal history. Warren pleaded guilty in 1997 to distributing fake drugs and has been accused of robbery and assault, although the charges were dropped, court records show.

"Even if he is a bad guy, do you have a right to kill him?" said Braxton, adding that Warren has been off parole for more than 10 years and wasn't the man police have portrayed him to be.

Coffey (D) showed NAACP members the in-car camera recording more than a week ago to open lines of communication with the chapter, according to Diane Richardson, spokeswoman for the sheriff's office. However, the recording, which has no audio and was about 20 minutes long, prompted the NAACP to organize Friday's press conference in front of the police headquarters in La Plata.

"This is not a witch hunt," Braxton said. "Mrs. Warren no longer has a husband and a father for her children."

About 30 people rallied around Warren's family at the tearful gathering.

Sherwin Warren, who was wearing a cap that read "I'm missing you" and pictured his brother, Cornelius, said his family is in mourning and struggling through a difficult time.

"I want the truth to come out," he said.

The family is planning to file a lawsuit against the sheriff's office, although their attorney hasn't decided whether to pursue the case in federal or state court. The recording of the shooting hasn't been given to the family, but attorney F. Scott Lucas said he has heard accounts of the incident from three bystanders.

"From the information we've gathered, there was no justification for the shooting, and that can be seen from anyone we talked to," Lucas said. He declined to comment further on the witness reports.

A statement released by the sheriff's office Friday asked for patience as police continue looking into the shooting.

The NAACP has asked the sheriff's office to release the camera footage, but the recording won't be publicized while the investigation is still underway, according to Richardson.

"We absolutely, positively want to be as thorough as possible, and we also want to move swiftly with the investigation," Richardson said. "There is a lot of information we would like to share with the public. … You're only getting half the picture right now, but we are simply not at a point where we can discuss all the aspects of the case."

To quicken the inquiry, the sheriff's office has paid an outside laboratory to examine the evidence, according to the sheriff's office statement.

The Charles County State's Attorney's Office and a grand jury will then review the findings. The large amount of drugs recovered in the SUV, results of a forensic analysis and level of fear felt by the officers prior to the shooting are significant factors in the incident, Richardson said.

"Once the investigation is over, we will have to look at things administratively, as well. There are many different aspects of an investigation," she said.

The agency members involved in the shooting — Cpl. John Freeman and officers Stephen Miller and Eric Leukhardt — have been placed on paid administrative leave.

brodgers@somdnews.com

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