The family of a Sherwood man who was fatally shot by Little Rock police on July 16, 2008, refiled on Friday a federal lawsuit alleging that officers used unnecessary deadly force, a year after dropping the case under a provision allowing it to be refiled.
The most recent lawsuit is 125 pages long and names the same four officers as being responsible for the death of William Collin Spradling, 25, who was shot outside the home of his girlfriend, Rachael Hatfield, at 621 Gillette Drive. The original suit was 51 pages long.
Police said the officers went to the house to talk to Spradling about a burglary that had been reported two days earlier, and he pulled out a gun and pointed it at them before he was shot four times. A departmental investigation later exonerated the officers -- detective Clay Hastings, who had quit and moved to Iowa shortly before the lawsuit was first filed; Michael Ford, Sgt. Frederick "Steve" Woodall and Aaron Simon.
The lawsuit contends that the woman who reported walking in on a burglary of her home, and then called police again the next day to say she had tracked the getaway car to the Gillette Drive home, was the mother of Spradling's ex-girlfriend. The suit alleges that Sherri Harris fabricated the burglary story because of "long-standing ill feelings" she harbored for Spradling and Rachael Hatfield.
The lawsuit alleges that Simon, who took both calls about the burglary from Harris, gathered other officers together on July 16 to help him arrest Spradling after he saw Spradling's Chevrolet Suburban parked in front of the Gillette Drive home. It says that Christina Hatfield, who owned the home and was Rachael Hatfield's mother, was gardening in the backyard when officers arrived and agreed to have her daughter and Spradling come outside.
Once Spradling was outside, according to the lawsuit, the officers told him he was under arrest, and three of them then threw him to the ground. The suit contends that Hastings placed his gun behind Spradling's left ear, and a short time later, all four officers shot Spradling, killing him. It says Simon claimed a handgun fell from Spradling's hand after he was shot, but that Simon moved it away for safety reasons.
Mike Laux, the out-of-state attorney who filed both suits, couldn't be reached for comment Friday to explain the differences between the two lawsuits.
The new lawsuit, assigned to U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr., appears to add allegations about a "pattern" of police misconduct before the shooting occurred. The previous suit was originally assigned to Moody's father, U.S. District Judge James Moody, who retired last year to avoid violating nepotism rules after his son was sworn in. The younger Moody had the case when it was dismissed.
Like the previous lawsuit, the latest version also names former Police Chief Stuart Thomas and the city as defendants.
The suit seeks compensatory and punitive damages, as well as payment of the Spradling family's attorney fees.
Metro on 04/25/2015