Atlanta officer who killed Rayshard Brooks accused of covering up 2015 shooting
Former Atlanta police officer Garrett Rolfe is implicated in another excessive force case
The Atlanta police officer who killed Rayshard Brooks is being accused of covering up a 2015 shooting.
Justin Miller of The Guardian exclusively obtained court documents that reveal Garrett Rolfe and another officer fired at Jackie Jermaine Harris in August 2015 and also chased him down after he was observed driving a stolen truck. Harris, who is Black, was alleged to have rammed a police vehicle and the officers opened fire.
READ MORE: Rayshard Brooks’ family reveals Tyler Perry will pay for his funeral
Harris was struck once, resulting in a collapsed lung. He survived the shooting and later pled guilty to theft, property damage, fleeing arrest and damaging a police vehicle. Harris was sentenced to time served and a year of probation.
Despite Harris’ injury, the incident was not reported to police officials by either cop, drawing the ire of a Georgia judge.
Judge Doris L Downs declared that the case a “disaster” and added “it’s the wildest case I’ve seen in my 34 years here,” during a 2016 court hearing.
Downs was upset that Rolfe and the other officer were not forthcoming about the shooting and demanded an investigation.
“None of the police put in the report that they shot the man – none of them. And they sent him to Grady [Memorial Hospital] with collapsed lungs and everything, and the report doesn’t mention it,” Downs said.
“I am ethically going to be required to turn all of them in.”
Downs also wanted to involve federal authorities. “What the police did was wrong, and they will have to answer for what they did.”
However, there is no current confirmation that a federal investigation happened.
Harris sent a letter to Downs from an Atlanta jail urging that the officerrs be held accountable for their actions.
“Not only have I been wronged, but society as well [has been wronged] by allowing this officer to continue to patrol our streets of Metro Atlanta,” Harris wrote.
According to the personnel file on Rolfe released on Tuesday, he was not disciplined in the shooting and the matter was regarded as “firearm discharge.” During his six years in the Atlanta police department, Rolfe had four citizen complaints filed against him. He was only disciplined for three of them in which he was cited for “use of force” the year after Harris was shot.
Rolfe was fired last week after he fatally shot Brooks outside a Wendy’s in Atlanta last Friday night. Brooks, 27, died June 12 after an employee from Wendy’s contacted police because he was allegedly sleeping in his car outside. At first, he was engaged in cooperative conversation with officers Rolfe and Devin Brosnan but a scuffle over Rolfe’s Taser soon ensued.
Brooks was shot twice in the back while running away and died at Atlanta’s Grady Memorial Hospital. The autopsy revealed the cause of death as homicide due to organ damage and blood loss. District Attorney Paul Howard stated there could be charges filed against Rolfe while Brosnan was placed on suspension.
READ MORE: Rayshard Brooks autopsy reveals he died of two gunshots to the back
The Atlanta Police Department Fulton County district attorney’s office did not respond for comment on the revelations in the Guardian story.
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