12 Pine Bluff officers yet to yield medals awarded after 107-year-old fatally shot

PINE BLUFF -- Twelve Pine Bluff police officers who received medals of valor for the way they handled a 2013 call that led to the fatal shooting of a 107-year-old man have not followed a City Council resolution to return the medals to the mayor's office.

Monroe Isadore was shot and killed by police during a standoff Sept. 7, 2013, at a residence where he rented a room. When a relative came to move him into an apartment, Isadore refused to leave and pointed a pistol at the homeowner, according to police.

Isadore fired the pistol at a door after officers arrived. He fired two more shots before members of the department's SWAT team kicked in the door and shot Isadore, according to a police report.

None of the officers were injured.

An investigation by special prosecutor Jason Barrett of Little Rock concluded that officers acted within the scope of their job when they returned fire in Isadore's direction and killed him.

The fatal shooting drew national attention and remains a point of contention with many in Pine Bluff, which led aldermen to vote unanimously earlier this month to issue a directive that all medals of valor given to officers involved in the shooting be rescinded.

Police Chief Jeff Hubanks said Friday that those who received medals were officer Anthony Kirkpatrick, former officer Joshua Lamb, Lt. Billy Dixon, Lt. Donna Fratesi, Sgt. Brett Talley, Sgt. Brad Vilches, Sgt. Jason Howard, Sgt. Marcus Smith, officer Roger Gray, former officer Marquis Blake, officer Phillip Gober and officer Ryan Moheeb. Vilches shot Isadore.

Hubanks said the decision to award the medals was his, noting that Mayor Debe Hollingsworth did not have to sign off on the decision. He estimated that $350 was spent for medals, and the money came from the community relations and special projects fund.

"It's one of my duties to give awards as I see fit, and I followed policy approved by the City Council when doing so," Hubanks said.

Hubanks said the officers are seeking legal advice about whether they must return the medals.

"I have no information on the source of funding," Hubanks said of officers' efforts to obtain legal advice. "I do know, however, that no taxpayer dollars are being spent by the officers seeking legal advice."

Marilyn Monroe Howard, Isadore's oldest daughter, said she is upset that police officers accepted an award in the shooting death of her father.

Howard and her sister, Paula Aguilar, filed a federal lawsuit in September 2014 against the city, Hubanks and Vilches in which they contended that police violated their father's rights. The lawsuit was dismissed in a summary judgment.

"I feel like they went out there to do what they wanted to do, which was to kill," Howard said. "This was something that barely lasted an hour and a half. He couldn't hear. He couldn't see. They were talking to someone like that in a barricaded room and they called no family members."

Howard said officers would have reacted differently had Isadore not been black.

"They should be awarded nothing," Howard said. "As a matter of fact, their asses should be locked up. It was the color of his skin. They would have been out there negotiating two hours or more if he had a different skin color."

Alderman Thelma Walker placed the resolution to rescind the awards on the City Council's agenda. She said she believes medals should be awarded to police who save lives, not to those who take them.

"I think that is terrible they have not returned the medals, because it really shows to me that they know they are wrong and still are not willing to to turn them in," Walker said. "I guess they are proud they have them, but they have got to know it is wrong.

"I don't know any person who would want an award for killing a 107-year-old person."

The officers have no legal obligation to return the medals, City Attorney Althea Hadden Scott said.

"It is up to the mayor and the department head, the chief," Scott said. "At this point, the council has passed a resolution, but of course a resolution is not binding and is the expression of the council's wishes. It is not law."

State Desk on 07/30/2016

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