Philadelpia Inquirer
PHILADELPHIA — Two off-duty police officers involved in the fatal shooting of a 20-year-old West Oak Lane man in 2008 will be fired, Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey announced yesterday.
Chauncey Ellison, a nine-year department veteran, shot Lawrence Allen in the back after scuffling with him near Allen’s home. With Ellison was Officer Robin Fortune, who has spent 13 years on the force.
Both were suspended for 30 days yesterday with the intent to dismiss. Ramsey said they violated the department’s guidelines for off-duty behavior.
“I’m glad that the family of Lawrence Allen can know that this tragic death is having some just consequences,” Charles Auspitz, the lawyer representing Allen’s family, said yesterday.
The decision comes a little more than a month after former District Attorney Lynne M. Abraham announced she would not file criminal charges against Ellison. District Attorney Seth Williams, who took office last month, has said he is reviewing the case.
Ellison and Fortune could not be reached for comment. John McNesby, head of the Fraternal Order of Police lodge, did not respond to messages seeking comment.
Allen’s family has filed a federal lawsuit alleging that Allen, a father of three, was unarmed and shot without provocation. The suit also claims the city fails to adequately train its officers in the use of deadly force.
The shooting took place about 9 a.m. Nov. 17, 2008, shortly after Ellison’s 14-year-old son was roughed up by a group of neighborhood bullies on his way home from a pizzeria. The group surrounded him, then stole the pizza he was carrying.
The boy ran home and told Ellison what happened. Ellison got into his car, accompanied by Fortune, and spotted a group of young people on Renovo Street, near where the robbery had taken place.
Ellison confronted the group, including Allen, who told Ellison he had had nothing to do with the robbery, his family said. Witnesses said Fortune encouraged Ellison to shoot Allen, according to the lawsuit, and Ellison fired his service weapon once into Allen’s back as Allen turned away.
The shooting happened in front of a number of witnesses, including Allen’s sister and several neighbors.
Ellison later told police he thought Allen had reached for a gun, but no weapon was found on Allen or in his house.
Allen was initially charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person, hindering apprehension, and weapons offenses. A teenager was also charged in the robbery.
Allen, who was paralyzed from the waist down, died three months later from complications related to his injury, including pneumonia and infections. He was unable to breathe on his own and lost more than half of his body weight.
“The amount of suffering this young man underwent is immeasurable,” Auspitz said. “He just withered away. It was horrible. It was heartbreaking.”
Ellison and Fortune worked in the 22d District. After the shooting, Ellison was put on desk duty, but Fortune remained on the street.
Abraham was criticized for taking years in some cases to resolve controversial police shootings. In the case of Officer Frank Tepper, who shot and killed 21-year-old William Panas in November while off duty, she impaneled a grand jury to hear evidence.
When Williams took office, he conducted his own review and filed first-degree murder charges against Tepper on Monday..
Copyright 2010 Philadelphia Inquirer