NEW ORLEANS (CN) - A dead man's father claims in a federal lawsuit that his son was shot seven times by cops because they believed he "may have hurt" a police dog.
As recounted in a complaint filed Tuesday in New Orleans, Darien Greenwood and a friend entered a Tammany Parish house without permission on October 20, 2015, and were discovered inside by the homeowner.
As the owner called the police, Greenwood and his friend fled the scene in their Chevrolet sedan.
According to the complaint, deputies soon spotted the friend's sedan on Interstate 12 near Highway 59, and began to follow it.
Realizing the authorities were closing in on them, the duo stop the car and took off on foot, running in different directions.
Greenwood's friend, Dean Perkins, was captured by deputies within minutes of his flight, the lawsuit says.
But Greenwood vanished into a nearby woods where he eluded sheriff's deputies for hours.
"When sheriff's deputies located Greenwood, they released a K-9 police dog which attacked Greenwood's right arm, right side and upper chest. In an effort to stop the K-9 from attacking him, Greenwood may have injured the K-9," the lawsuit says.
At that point, the complaint says "two unidentified sheriff's deputies opened fire on Greenwood, shooting him seven times. Two bullets entered his right arm then penetrated his left side, one entered his left shoulder, another his left arm, two in his back, and one in his left shoulder."
Greenwood was taken to a hospital in Hammond, Louisiana where he was pronounced "dead on arrival" from "multiple gunshot wounds" inflicted by "police officers," the lawsuit says.
Richard Greenwood says in the immediate aftermath of his son's death, he requested information from the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Office, including details and the names of the officers who shot his son.
"Despite repeated attempts to ascertain this information and promises that this information would be provided, nothing has been produced to date, not even the names of the individuals responsible for the homicide," the lawsuit says.
"[St. Tammany Parish Sheriff] Jack Strain has failed to take any public action to date and communicate any of his actions with Mr. Greenwood, including but not limited to the production of an investigative report."
All other reports that might have been filed by Sheriff Strain or his staff have also been withheld, the lawsuit says.
Reached by Courthouse News on Wednesday, Capt. George Bonnett, public relations officer for the sheriff's office, said as a matter of policy the office does not comment on pending litigation.
Richard Greenwood seeks $1.5 million in regular damages and $1 million in punitive damages for civil rights violations, assault and battery, murder of his son, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
The lawsuit was filed by Bruce Betzer of Metairie, Louisiana.
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