Forty-seven-year-old Barry Deloatch was shot just after midnight on Sept. 22, after two police officers chased him into a New Jersey alley. His two grown sons have now filed a notice indicating their intent to sue the town of New Brunswick as well as the local police department.
Walter L. Hudson, a spokesman for the Deloatch family, has called for the U.S. Department of Justice to intervene in the case, in which prosecutors say the officers stopped to question Deloatch and two other men, and Deloatch fled. The officers then followed him into an alley, "where a struggle ensued and resulted in the shooting," prosecutors said in a statement.
He did not have a gun when he was shot by police. Sources said Deloatch was armed with a stick and hitting officers, but his family denies that claim.
The two officers have been placed on administrative leave, pending the investigation.
There was no immediate comment Monday from the police department. That wasn't a surprise, since the department has remained silent about the incident despite the attention of the NAACP and other prominent organizations.
Mayor James Cahill said last month that it was "fully understandable" that people wanted answers but asked for patience as the Middlesex County prosecutors office investigated. It's just as understandable, in our view, that Deloatch's sons have now taken matters into their own hands in hopes of getting some legal accountability for their father's death.
Read more at MSNBC.
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