Baltimore prosecutors have cleared 13 police officers in a fatal shooting last year in which 147 rounds were fired at a man who they say pointed a weapon at police two days after firing at an officer.
“When all available evidence is considered, the Involved Officers’ actions did not rise to the level of criminal conduct,” prosecutors wrote in a 38-page report posted online. “The Baltimore City State’s Attorney, therefore, declines to pursue criminal charges in this matter.”
Prosecutors stressed at the top of the report that they were “focused exclusively on determining whether criminal charges ... were warranted” and “did not examine issues such as the officer’s compliance with internal policies and procedures, their training or tactics, or any issues related to civil liability.”
The decision was made March 13, and the report was posted online May 1 and went unnoticed until last week when a reporter inquired about the case.
Officers killed Tyrone Domingo Banks, 30, in the hail of gunfire in the Aug. 28 incident, which ended in the 1700 block of N. Wolfe St. Prosecutors say body camera footage shows Banks had fired at an officer the day before and in a separate incident tried to drive his vehicle into another.
His gun was jammed and had not been fired on the night he was killed, however, the investigation found.
A 51-year-old woman who was driving through the area was struck from officer gunfire related to the incident, and an officer was hit in the leg.
While prosecutors did not say when they cleared the officers, Baltimore Police said the case was declined for prosecution on March 13 and that an internal investigation and training review was continuing.
Prosecutors also refused to identified the officers, but police identified them as: Sgt. Paul Sinchak and officers Carlos Arias, Breanna Beebe, Demetri Bezzek, Timothy Bowen, Robert Crane, Ralph Dilucci, Cody Duchame, Mark Keenan, Jeffery Lybarger, Ryan Messimer, Paulo Pereia, and Jason Van Helton.
“The case will go to the performance review board to review the actions and make any recommendations to the department,” said Lindsey Eldridge, the police department’s chief spokesperson.
Police Commissioner Michael Harrison last year praised the officers for courage and bravery, and also said they had exercised caution prior to the shooting, knowing Banks’ history. Court records show Banks previously led officers on a 100 mph chase through four districts in 2015 and rammed a police car.
The prosecutors’ report does not name the woman who was struck, and it is not an official report, but one created for public consumption. The Baltimore State’s Attorney’s Office noted that it is the only prosecutor’s office in the state that posts reports on police shooting cases it declines to prosecute.
The prosecutors’ report says two officers were tending to a citizen on an unrelated call when they saw a silver Toyota RAV4 wanted in connection with the previous day’s incidents.
“That Toyota right there, turn around,” an officer said, according to prosecutors’ summary of body camera footage.
Banks had driven past them, but stopped and put the vehicle into park and stepped out of his vehicle.
“Watch out, he’s got a gun. Gun, gun, gun!” the officer says as he takes cover.
Banks got back into his car and drove away, with officers in pursuit. He came to a stop on the corner of Caroline and East Fayette streets, and got out of the vehicle with a gun in his hand, prosecutors say.
A third officer pulled behind Banks’ vehicle, and an officer from the helicopter unit can be heard saying: "He’s stopped. He’s pointing. He’s getting out of the car.” The officer fired through the front windshield of his police vehicle.
Banks re-entered the vehicle and headed south on Caroline Street, and officers opened fire as he passed through the intersection. The third officer struck Banks’ vehicle from the rear, and it hit a tree.
Prosecutors say the Foxtrot helicopter camera shows Banks in the driver’s seat “extending his arm outward, turning towards police officers and pointing a pistol. The Involved Citizen’s arm jerks upward approximately 4-7 times.”
The prosecutors’ analysis of the evidence found one officer fired 25 shots; another fired 21. Others fired between 2 and 14. Police issue Glock 22 pistols have a magazine capacity of 14 rounds.
Banks’ weapon was a 9mm Luger pistol, and prosecutors said it had five rounds in the magazine and one “stove-piped” cartridge jammed in the chamber, rendering it inoperable. They said no spent rounds from Banks’ gun were found on the scene.
They said at the prior day shooting scene, a 9 mm casing was found on the scene.
Banks had been found “not criminally responsible” in 2010 assault case. Prosecutors in their report of last year’s shooting say that Banks’ girlfriend, who is not identified by name, was interviewed by police and said that Banks “may have been attempting to commit suicide by cop.”