Black Man Files Lawsuit Against Missouri Police Over 2018 Shooting

Mr. Cockrell was shot 8 times and remains partially disabled.

Trey Cockrell (above) and his attorney Jaime Santana (author of upcoming “When Bad Cops Happen to Good People”) filed a Federal Civil Rights Lawsuit in Missouri Wednesday.

In Nov. 2018 Mr. Cockrell, an African American, was the passenger in his girlfriend’s car. Police pulled them over, officers went each side of car got their IDs and were checking them out.

Trey left the car and ran into the adjacent woods. Police, including one with a history of complaints, take chase.

Time recordings have the officer, with a history of complaints, radioing “Shots Fired” within one minute. No one heard them. Within 2 minutes multiple agencies were on site in response to that call.

Although no one saw Mr. Cockrell with a gun, the officers converged upon him and 3 or 4 started shooting. Two or three of them have a history of complaints.

Mr. Cockrell was shot 8 times and remains partially disabled.

The Complaint alleges, among other things, misconduct by several officers, both the shooters and those who failed to stop them, and their superiors and employers for failing to properly train the officers as well as for allowing officers with history to continue their misconduct.

A list of the police defendants agencies and municipalities named in the federal lawsuit are listed below.

List of Defendants

Joshua Bowersox, Brentwood police officer

Nicolas Stanze, Brentwood police officer

Major Craig Mueler, Brentwood police officer

Joseph Spiess, Brentwood Police

Chief Matt Karl, Richmond Heights police officer

Jeffrey Dulaney, Richmond Heights police officer

Officer Vargas, Richmond Heights police officer

Doug Schaeffler, former Richmond Heights Police Chief

Jeffrey DeVorss, Clayton sergeant

Kevin Murphy, former Clayton Police Chief

Jon Belmar, former St. Louis County Police Chief

Timothy Fitch, former St. Louis County Police Chief

The City of Brentwood

Chris Thorton, Brentwood mayor

The City of Richmond Heights

Jim Thompson, Richmond Heights mayor

The City of Clayton

Harold Sangler, Clayton mayor

The Saint Louis County Police Department

Saint Louis County Police Academy(s)

Saint Louis County

 

The case is being handled by the Santana Law Partners firm.

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