Collected From Wire Services and Times-Dispatch Resources
March 29, 2001, Thursday, City Edition
Copyright 2001 The Richmond Times Dispatch
The Richmond Times Dispatch
March 29, 2001, Thursday, City Edition
(WAVERLY, Va.) - Former Waverly Police Chief Warren Sturrup turned himself in to the U.S. Marshals Office yesterday after being charged with violating the civil rights of a murder suspect, authorities said.
A federal grand jury in Richmond on Tuesday charged Sturrup with using unreasonable force when he arrested Eric Garrett in the shooting death of officer Allen W. Gibson Jr. in April 1998.
The indictment alleges Sturrup arrested Garrett without probable cause, federal prosecutors said.
Evidence presented in court suggested Gibson was shot after he tried to interrupt a drug deal. Sturrup said he and two other officers apprehended Garrett and ushered him in handcuffs to where Gibson lay dying, hoping the officer could identify Garrett as the shooter. But Gibson was too far gone, and police soon realized they had the wrong man.