Monday, August 20th 2012, 11:31 am
The case against a Del City police officer charged with first-degree manslaughter will go to trial. A judge found enough evidence to make that ruling during a preliminary hearing Monday in an Oklahoma County courtroom.
Del City Police Capt. Randy Harrison is accused of shooting a teenage suspect in the back on March 14. According to police reports, police tried to pull over 18-year-old Dane Scott for a traffic violation. That turned into a police pursuit through Del City, and ended when Scott crashed into an 18-wheeler near Interstate 35 and S.E. 15th Street.
4/19/2012 Related Story: Del City Police Officer Charged In Shooting Death Surrenders To Authorities
4/19/2012 Related Story: Del City Police Captain Charged In Shooting Death Of Teen
Court documents reveal a physical struggle ensued as Harrison tried to apprehend Scott. Harrison is said to have fired two shots, but neither hit Scott. A third shot was fired as Scott attempted to climb a chain link fence, but that bullet also missed Scott. A fourth shot, however, hit Scott in the back as he tried to run away.
Scott was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Court records state Scott was unarmed and was not posing a threat of death or great bodily harm to the officers or other people at the time of the shooting.
Members of Scott's family were in court for the preliminary hearing. The state's first witness at the preliminary hearing was utility worker Eric Thomoson. He said he was working on a gas meter in the area and was driving down the street when he witnessed Scott's car crash into the tractor-trailer in front of him.
Thomoson testified he saw three young men jump out of the car and run. One of them was Scott. He said an officer yelled at them to stop, and two of them did.
Thomoson said he then saw a police officer wrestling with one of the suspects who had a gun. He said the suspect pointed the gun at the officer, but the officer was able to take the gun from the suspect's hand. Thomoson says the suspect then ran, and that's when the officer shot him.
August 20th, 2012
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