Phoneix cops shoots home owner in the back 6x and tries to cover it up

[Prometheus]

PHOENIX (CN) - A homeowner says a Phoenix police officer shot him six times in the back during a 911 home-invasion call, and the 911 tape recorded the officer's partner saying, "That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?" The family says the officers were not aware that the 911 call was still recording as they spoke about covering up the shooting.

In their complaint in Maricopa County Court, Anthony and Lesley Arambula say an armed intruder "crashed through the front window" of their home on Sept. 17, 2008 and ran into one of their son's bedrooms. Anthony, worried about his son who was still in his bedroom, says he "held the intruder calmly at gunpoint" and called 911.

Phoenix Police officers already in the neighborhood heard the crash of the Arambulas' window. When they approached the house, Lesley says, she told Sgt. Sean Coutts that her husband was inside holding the intruder at gunpoint. Lesley says Coutts failed to pass on that information to the two other officers.

Inside the house, the Arambulas say, Officer Brian Lilly shot Anthony six times in the back while he was still on the phone with the 911 operator - twice when he was on the ground. The officers ran into the bedroom after Anthony told them, "You just killed ... you just killed the homeowner. The bad guy is in there."

The complaint states that Officer Lilly "admitted that it was only after Tony was laying, bullet-ridden, on the ground that he assessed the situation. The 911 tape continued to record what happened even after Officer Lilly unloaded his weapon into Tony, including Officer Lilly's post-shooting, one-word 'assessment': '****.'

"Tony believed he was going to die; the 911 tape records his plaintive goodbye to his family: '... I love you ... I love you.' Then Tony made what he believed was a dying request to the officers; he did not want his young family to see him shot and bloodied. Officers callously ignored his request and painfully dragged Tony by his injured leg, through the home and out to his backyard patio, where they left him bloodied and shot right in front of Lesley, Matthew and Zachary."

The Arambulas say the officers later dragged Anthony onto gravel, then put him on top of the hot hood of a squad car, and "drove the squad car down the street with Tony lying on top, writing in pain." According to the complaint, Lilly can be heard on the 911 tape telling Coutts, "We ****ed up."

Lilly says on the tape that he did not know where Anthony's gun was when he shot him and that he "opened fire because he heard loud noises and saw someone who looked like he might be the 'Hispanic' male they were pursuing" before getting to the Arambulas' house, according to the complaint.

The complaint states: "Sgt. Coutts knew that officers has just shot up and likely killed an innocent homeowner and the husband of Lesley, with whom he had spoken before entering the home, instead of the armed intruder. Sgt. Coutts was quick to commence the cover-up of their terrible mistake. Sgt. Coutts asked Office Lilly where Tony's gun was at the time Officer Lilly had opened fire on Tony. Officer Lilly admitted that he did not know where Tony's gun was: 'I don't know. I heard screaming and I fired.'"

Lilly later told a police internal affairs investigator that Anthony had pointed his gun in his direction, "in the 'ready' position," the complaint states. But Anthony Arambula says he was facing away from the officers, who could not have even seen his gun.

The complaint continues: "Still not knowing that he is being recorded n the 911 tape, Sgt. Coutts interrupted Officer Lilly's admission and apology with his assurance that the cover-up would commence: 'That's all right. Don't worry about it. I got your back. ... We clear?'"

After the shooting, the Arambulas say, the Phoenix Police Department treated them "like suspects in a drug bust," denying Lesley, Michael and Zachary information about Anthony's condition and denying friends and family members access to him at the hospital.

Anthony Arambula survived, but continues to suffer pain, which he expects will last for the rest of his life.The City of Phoenix and Officer Dzenan Ahmetovic also are named as defendants.

The Arambulas seek punitive damages for gross negligence, civil rights violations, failure to supervise, excessive force, deliberate indifference to medical needs, false arrest, and emotional distress. They are represented by Michael Manning with son Morrison Hecker.

Unreal.

 

[SavageEagle]

Wow. Something straight out of Hollyweird. Only real. God help those guys, but God help Anthony to recover. He's lucky he survived!

 

[JustGone]

So wrong....

 

[Skoty]

WOW, seriously?! Reading this enrages me. Even if they did think he was the suspect, why would they drag him outside, then put him on the hood of the cruiser?! A lawsuit and leaving the department is not enough punishment for their actions. Both officers are equally guilty. For his wife and child to witness such torture is just as sick and malicious as quartering back in the old days. Both officers should be tried as suspects, cruel and inhumane punishment, tampering with evidence, this just sickens me. I am not a religious man, but I hope they rot in Hell.

 

[rambone]

 

[SavageEagle]

Rambone, you need to upgrade!

I don't see this getting locked. I'm sorry, but the evidence is pretty cut and dry. What these guys did is sick and twisted and they thought, for some effed up reason, they could cover it up. We all know their actions don't reflect that of other officers. Especially the ones we all know and respect. That being said, I totally agree with skoty.

 

[55spartan]

This is what we pay our tax dollars for? To be shot in our own home and dragged like an animal in front of your own children and thrown like a deer onto the hood of a car. I hope they get all the money they deserve and the police involved do hard time. Corruptness has to start being dealt with hard in this country from the local yokel's all the way up to the WH. The initial shooting was a tragic mistake but the corrupt cover up that is just unforgivable to do that to a family.

 

[Denny347]

I never tire of these stories.

 

[Kirk Freeman]

I never tire of these stories

Because not talking about them will prevent them from happening? Instead of covering them up, how about we talk about what we can learn from them?

First thing that jumps out at me is "don't assume that everyone knows you are the good guy." Friendly fire happens, how to prevent it? Make sure you communicate.

Here the wife told a police officer who was not involved in entry into the house while he was "calmly holding" someone at gun point. You need to be sounding off, you need to ensure that your team knows what is going on. Learn from this so it does not happen to us.

I hope the homeowner recovers and I hope the sky turns legal pad yellow for the officers, department and city.

According to the complaint, Lilly can be heard on the 911 tape telling Coutts, "We ****ed up."

Yes, yes you did in many ways.

Another we can learn is that if we have any doubt, we do not fire. We do not fire because we want to. We do not fire because we are scared. We do not fire because we want to feel good.

We need to see their hands. We need to be in fear of our lives. We need to speak with our attorney.

 

[ATM]

Phoenix Officer Who Shot Homeowner Didn't Violate Policy, Police Board Says - Phoenix News - Valley Fever

Arambula had his handgun trained on the intruder when he was shot, so it's a given that Lilly shot the wrong person. Under certain circumstances, according to the review board, such an error is allowed by department policy.

Whether a jury agrees -- if the lawsuit gets that far -- is another question.

Errors not only happen, they are allowed by policy.

 

[mrjarrell]

Phoenix Officer Who Shot Homeowner Didn't Violate Policy, Police Board Says - Phoenix News - Valley Fever




Errors not only happen, they are allowed by policy.

As it is allowed in many cases like this. One really has to wonder what's written down in these departments policy manuals.

 

[infidel]

Hey just because we hear stories every day about cops doing the wrong thing doesn't mean a notable percentage of them aren't good cops.

 

[SavageEagle]

Hey just because we hear stories every day about cops doing the wrong thing doesn't mean a notable percentage of them aren't good cops.

As I pointed out in my posts. Although I agree, I think it would be nice to know what's in the policy manual police have to follow.

 

[Denny347]

As I pointed out in my posts. Although I agree, I think it would be nice to know what's in the policy manual police have to follow.

Policy for what specifically?

 

[SavageEagle]

Policy for what specifically?

All of them. From dress uniform to procedures for clearing a home to how they are to use their patrol car. I'd like to read the WHOLE thing. Just for the sake of knowing. If if their policy is to shoot anyone in a home that's being burgularized that moves then that's something the people should know about. Right?

 

[Adrenaline]

Where I am living currently just had the entire police department fired or arrested (no longer exists)...tho the county officers still make runs through town it is a little disturbing.

 

[haldir]

Good to know they don't have a policy against shooting the wrong guy... that would just be silly.

Reminds me of reading a decision in a capital case appeal. The Court of Appeals said that innocence isn't grounds for appeal. Hopefully that has been changed at some point as well.

 

[Denny347]

All of them. From dress uniform to procedures for clearing a home to how they are to use their patrol car. I'd like to read the WHOLE thing. Just for the sake of knowing. If if their policy is to shoot anyone in a home that's being burgularized that moves then that's something the people should know about. Right?

Damn, you must have a lot of free time. We have a binder that is 3-4 inches thick for our General Orders. We do not have GO's for clearing a house or a burglary in progress. Those are things that are too fluid to have one method of handling.

 

[SavageEagle]

Damn, you must have a lot of free time. We have a binder that is 3-4 inches thick for our General Orders. We do not have GO's for clearing a house or a burglary in progress. Those are things that are too fluid to have one method of handling.

Not as much as you'd think, but I got a bit. It pays to have the night to yourself. Plus I'm a fast reader and can skim through the boring/irrelevant/paper-pusher stuff.

 

[techres]

There are three levels of fail here providing the complaint is correct (and I will return to this posit last):

1. Pre-Contact.

What information was given by dispatch to the responding LEO's? What information was given to dispatch? What did the LEO's misunderstand or not hear? What was their level of training and experience in these situations? How did they enter the house and where did they understand the homeowners to be?


2. Shooting.

What happened? Was it dark or well lit? Did they see a firearm and go to combat mode or were any words exchanged? What did they see? What started the rounds and what ended them?


3. Post Shooting.

They knew fast that they had a FUBAR situation. Why did they move to coverup and illegal actions like evidence tampering and improper medical response? Why did they not simply stand up like men and face the friendly fire reality they had on hand?

Why did they not face charges?


There have been other shootings where coverups have happened but they normally are preceeded by existing misconduct (a shady or non-existant warrant) as in the Georgia shoot, but in those cases the cops covered up because they were already in the illegal zone. Also in those cases they were found out by their own departments and faced charges.

Many also include use of no-knock warrants that upped the ante as it were and laid an excuse of homeowner negligence. For a map & list, see this link:

CATO.ORG Botched Paramilitary Police Raids: An Epidemic of "Isolated Incidents"

BUT THOSE AND THIS CASE ARE DIFFERENT.

In this case, an investigation found no charges despite the tapes of the dispatch and the officers. In this case the officers stood before their departments and told their story and did not face charges. In this case, no major media has picked up the story (according to my Google Fu) and crucified the officers and department.

In this case all we have is a slam dunk, no brainer, offensive beyond justice event where the only reason is gross incompetence of all involved and criminal negligence of most.

So here is my problem: the posit I made earlier is hard to make. In this case, I will have to see how it plays out. And if the case is won, they I hope that the officers are fired and criminally prosecuted and others go with them.

But I suspect, and hope, that there is far more to this story because it is so very far out there that even my tin foil strains to meet it.