Police Officer Patrick Riley flicked his blue lights on to pull over a suspicious car late at night.
He found an active electronic bench warrant and attempted an arrest.
While the officer stood at the car, the driver accelerated, and the officer was dragged down a dirt road for dozens of feet.
When he got free, he lifted his Glock 19. He fired five shots.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
All of them missed.
Following this late-October incident, Belknap County Attorney Melissa Guldbrandsen wrote in a memo Monday the Belmont officer’s use of deadly force was not reasonably justified.
“At first blush, shooting at a departing vehicle on a dirt road, in an area without any significant population density, during the middle of the night does not appear reasonable,” she said.
Guldbrandsen also wrote, however, that there was insufficient evidence to prove that beyond a reasonable doubt.
“Criminal charges will not be brought against Officer Riley,” she said.
Several attempts to contact Belmont police for comment were unsuccessful Monday.
The autumn incident took place about 1:30 a.m. on South Road in Belmont. A state police investigation determined the following details:
Riley was patrolling the rural dirt road when he found a car pulled over. When the officer approached the vehicle and shined his spotlight on it, the car began to pull away. Riley put on his blue emergency lights, and the car stopped again.
The 24-year-old driver, Hayden Moon of Gilmanton, told Riley he was going to get gas at the Shell Station. Riley found this suspicious – since there were no such stations nearby – and he discovered Moon had an electronic bench warrant with $1,000 cash bail.
The officer informed Moon he was under arrest, and opened the driver’s side door as Moon pleaded to be allowed to leave.
Riley saw what he thought was a gas canister, which could have been drug paraphernalia for methamphetamine, between Moon’s legs. Moon suddenly shifted the car and accelerated, with Riley stuck between the door and the car. Riley told state police he was dragged about 100 feet before getting free, and he received minor injuries to his leg.
At that point, Riley fired five shots from his Glock 19 9mm pistol. None of them hit Moon or his vehicle, and he was not hurt.
Riley immediately informed his supervisors about the incident and was fully compliant with investigators. In the meantime, Moon’s vehicle was found abandoned in Loudon about 5:30 p.m. later that day.
Belmont police issued reckless conduct and resisting arrest warrants for Moon, and he was arrested Nov. 14 during a traffic stop in Tilton. He was in possession of methamphetamine and several stolen credit cards from Concord.
Moon declined to be interviewed for the investigation into Riley’s conduct.
In her assessment of the entire incident, Guldbrandsen determined that Riley was not justified in his use of deadly force.
Guldbrandsen wrote that Riley said he shot at the vehicle due to the apparent disregard Moon showed for the officer’s safety, and the possibility of showing similar disregard for other motorists in the area.
The county attorney argued in turn, however, that Moon was in a rural area late at night, and the likelihood of Moon meeting another on-coming motorist was slim. Disabling the car by shooting at its tires, Guldbrandsen said, could have been more appropriate.
“The Officer’s force was not in proportion to the possible threat of future harm posed by Moon,” she said. “Because the Officer’s actions were not clearly reasonable, it is difficult to conclude that the shooting was justified.”
As to whether Guldbrandsen would charge Riley with reckless conduct with a firearm, she decided against it. She said it would be difficult for the state to prove that Riley, beyond a reasonable doubt, wasn’t justified in using deadly force.
“In a jury trial, a competent defense attorney would simply argue . . . that Moon was eluding a lawful arrest, had committed a new felony, and was fleeing in a manner that was dangerous, in a motor vehicle that could easily cause death or serious bodily injury,” Guldbrandsen said. She noted in her memo this is known as the “fleeing felon” use-of-force justification.
“A prosecutor must always exercise discretion in making charging decisions,” she said.
Riley appears to be one of the less egregious use-of-force cases to begin with. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s office wouldn’t even take on the investigation into Riley, since no property or people were hurt as a result.
(Elodie Reed can be reached at 369-3306, ereed@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @elodie_reed.)