The city of Soddy-Daisy and three of its police officers are facing a wrongful death suit accusing the city of negligence after a 74-year-old - allegedly blindfolded - man who suffered from dementia was shot and killed by officers last year after he reportedly pointed an unloaded gun at them.
Soddy-Daisy city attorney Sam Elliott said the city expects to defend the case vigorously.
According to the lawsuit, filed by attorneys Stuart James and McCracken Poston in federal court on Tuesday, plaintiff Patti Grimm was having an argument with her partner, Jack Sawyer, on Sept. 9, 2019.
Police were called to help calm Sawyer down and defuse the situation, attorneys say.
Three officers - Matthew Thomas, Eric Jenkins and Eric Hindmon - arrived, and Grimm told them that Sawyer suffered from dementia, had become agitated over an issue with the television remote and pointed an unloaded gun at her, the suit states. But she clarified that no ammunition was in the house and that she did not wish to press charges.
Grimm gave officers keys to the house and asked them to do a wellness check to make sure he was OK and to let her know if it was safe to go back inside the house, according to the lawsuit.
With their guns drawn, the officers entered the home, the lawsuit states. Shortly thereafter, two shots were fired.
According to a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office investigative report that is detailed in the lawsuit, Soddy-Daisy police entered the home and "repeatedly" announced their presence. That's something attorneys argue officers didn't continue to do when they entered Sawyer's bedroom, and Sawyer likely couldn't hear the officers call out to him even when they got to his bedroom.
In the bedroom, Sawyer was sitting with his back turned toward the officers and it "appeared Mr. Sawyer was fidgeting with something in his lap," the report included in the lawsuit reads.
"After officers entered the bedroom Mr. Sawyer 'turned' and 'produced and pointed' a firearm at Officer Thomas," the report states. "Officer Jenkins fired at Mr. Sawyer striking him once in the chest. Officers then retrieved the gun from Mr. Sawyer, cleared it and set it on the bed."
But, attorneys argue, the report is inaccurate and excludes certain details. And they question the sheriff's office's ability to remain objective, as it often assists Soddy-Daisy police.
"[T]he investigating agency should have been one with no other dealings with the Soddy Daisy Police Department," the attorneys wrote in a statement. "[A]n independent and objective investigation was necessary. Such an investigation should have been conducted by an outside agency with no local ties in our community."
For example, the report doesn't state that Grimm told officers that Sawyer's gun was unloaded, attorneys say. And it doesn't state that Sawyer had a sleeping mask covering his eyes, which would have obstructed his vision.
"When he was shot Mr. Sawyer had a sleeping mask covering his eyes which officers had to lift to look at his eyes after the shooting," attorney James wrote in a statement.
According to body camera footage described in the suit, the videos show that seven seconds went by before Sawyer turned to face officers. That was enough time, attorneys argue, for officers to back out of the room and find a non-deadly way to address the situation.
"[T]he facts show there was no 'reasonable fear' with the prior knowledge of an unloaded gun while haphazardly and carelessly entering and remaining in the Sawyers' bedroom for 7 seconds without Officer Thomas properly identifying himself as an officer," attorneys argue. "Moreover, if Thomas had appropriately backed out of the room neither he nor Officer Jenkins would have fired any shots."
Officers Thomas, Jenkins and Hindmon either did not return a request for comment or could not be reached.
Soddy-Daisy attorney Elliott said the officers were given the option to take time off following the shooting. They each took two to three days, though it was not required of them.
An internal affairs investigation was not conducted because, "As the use of force was deemed justified by the county authorities after reviewing the body camera tapes, a separate investigation by the SDPD was not deemed necessary," Elliott said. "Our policy was effectively followed."
But, Poston wrote, "With the events of the last few weeks bringing into question the methods and practices of police officers, as well as those investigating officer-involved shootings, this is becoming a sadly familiar tale."
Sawyer's family is asking for a non-specified amount in damages and for their attorneys fees to be covered.
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