The daughters of a 107-year-old man who was shot to death last year by Pine Bluff police after a three-hour standoff have filed a federal wrongful-death lawsuit against the police chief and the officer who fired the fatal shot.
In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday in federal court in Pine Bluff, Marilyn Monroe Howard of Saline County and Paula Aguilar of Pine Bluff seek a ruling that police violated the rights of their father, Monroe Isadore, during a disturbance on Sept. 7, 2013, inside a house where Isadore was renting a room.
The daughters also seek monetary damages for the pain, suffering and mental anguish Isadore endured, and to cover his medical and funeral bills. They also are seeking punitive damages against Chief Jeff Hubanks and officer Brad Vilches.
The shooting attracted nationwide attention because of Isadore's age, though in November a special prosecutor cleared police of wrongdoing. The prosecutor said officers acted within the scope of their job to protect themselves, fellow officers and others when they returned fire after Isadore fired a pistol in the direction of SWAT team officers. No officers were injured.
The standoff began when police were called to the home of Pauline Lewis about 4:25 p.m. Sept. 7, according to official accounts. Just before the call, Laurie Barlow, Isadore's longtime friend and caregiver, had arrived at the home on 16th Avenue to help Isadore move from the rented room into his newly renovated home.
Barlow later told a reporter that a family member who "agitated" Isadore, and whom he was afraid of, showed up at Lewis' house shortly after Barlow arrived. She said he was afraid the person "was going to take him away, and he was just trying to protect himself."
According to the lawsuit, Barlow called police after she entered Isadore's bedroom and he pointed a gun at her. Barlow later told a reporter, however, that Isadore "never pointed a gun at anyone."
The SWAT team was called after three Pine Bluff police officers arrived and positioned themselves outside the bedroom door, then heard a gunshot fired from inside the room in the vicinity of two of the officers.
According to the lawsuit, Hubanks instructed one team of SWAT officers outside the house to break a bedroom window and position a pole camera to monitor Isadore in the room, while a second team entered the house.
An officer who knew Isadore, and knew he couldn't hear well, yelled into the window from outside but received no response, prompting the outside team to throw a tear-gas canister through the broken window, according to reports. The lawsuit said that prompted Isadore to fire two shots.
The lawsuit states that "instead of retreating from the house," the team of officers entering the house "was ordered to enter the bedroom before Isadore could reload his gun."
The suit says the officers kicked in the door and Vilches threw a flash-bang device into the room, then used his rifle to shoot and kill Isadore.
At no time did the police attempt to contact Howard or any other relatives of Isadore, the lawsuit complains. It also notes that police "failed to wait for any family members to appear on the scene to communicate with Isadore in order to defuse the situation."
In the weeks after the fatal shooting, some Pine Bluff residents staged rallies and demonstrations protesting how police handled the situation.
Howard's lawsuit was filed by Little Rock attorneys John Walker and Lawrence Walker. It is assigned to U.S. District Judge Kristine Baker.
Metro on 09/05/2014