Police expert: Florida undercover officer should had known to ID himself before fatal confrontation
‘Corey went to his grave not knowing he was killed by an officer,’ attorney says.
A Florida police officer under investigation for fatally shooting a stranded motorist in the wee hours Sunday may have violated a golden rule of police work by not identifying himself before the deadly confrontation.
Palm Beach Gardens officer Nouman Raja was working undercover trying to catch burglars when he stopped to check out what he thought was an abandoned vehicle along a dark South Florida highway entrance ramp.
But attorneys for the family of 31-year-old Corey Jones said Thursday that Raja pulled up to the scene in an unmarked white van with tinted windows, and wore jeans, a T-shirt and a ball cap as he approached Jones, a public-house inspector and part-time musician who was waiting on a tow truck.
“Corey never saw a badge,” said Benjamin Crump, a civil rights attorney who has represented the families of several slain African-Americans including Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown. “He doesn’t know if he’s about to be mugged, if he’s about to be robbed, if he’s about to be killed. Corey went to his grave not knowing he was killed by an officer.”
Palm Beach Gardens police chief Stephen Stepp didn’t immediately respond to messages on Thursday seeking a response to allegations that officer Nouman Raja didn’t display a badge as he approached Jones off Interstate 95 around 3 a.m.
But the city did release a statement in an email Thursday afternoon:
“We share the family and the community’s deep interest in a timely and thorough investigation of all relevant facts and evidence, and the public disclosure of those findings as soon as possible. While we are sensitive to the need and desire for investigative conclusions to be shared, it is essential that appropriate time be allotted to determine the facts and the truth — to get it right.”
Earlier this week, Stepp told reporters that Raja was “suddenly confronted by an armed subject,” and fatally shot Jones.
If Raja, an officer for seven years, didn’t show his badge, it would go against his law enforcement instruction, said retired police administrator Chuck Drago, who now works as a consultant and expert trial witness.
“Police officers are trained from the first day in the academy to understand that if you are not in uniform, it is incumbent upon the officer to make his identity clear at the outset,” Drago told Yahoo News. “Police agencies typically have well defined policies which require officers in plainclothes to follow certain protocols.”
At a Thursday news conference, Jones’s family said he was known to carry a firearm and encouraged them to do the same for protection. But they were adamant about Jones not being a violent person.
“He would not ever, ever, ever pull a gun on a policeman — never,” said his brother, Clinton Jones Jr. “This is not like him.”
Police said a firearm found outside of Jones’s car matched a handgun box inside his car. Chief Stepp said detectives later learned that Jones had legally purchased the weapon three days before his death.
Drago, who does not know the particulars of Jones’ death, said all police officers should consider their training before stopping to help a motorist in the early morning hours, when citizens are easily alarmed.
“The best practice for a plainclothes officer in this situation is to alert the dispatcher that there is a stranded motorist and have them send a marked unit,” Drago told Yahoo News. “If they feel compelled to stop for some reason and don’t have a blue light, then they must ensure that their firearm is not visible and approach the person slowly and with a great deal of caution.”
Authorities have not released their complete account of the confrontation between Jones and Raja. The criminal investigation is being done by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office and the State Attorney's Office.
The dead man’s family, after meeting with Florida’s 15th judicial circuit state attorney, said they now know that Jones didn’t fire a shot.
“Corey Jones never fired his weapon,” Crump said. “The officer fired six times. When a plainclothes police officer with no badge shoots someone, it draws many questions.”
Three of the officer’s shots struck Jones, the family’s attorneys said they were told. In all, Jones suffered five wounds (some of them exit wounds). One shot broke his arm and another entered through Jones' side and lodged in his upper body, the attorneys said.
Attorney Daryl Parks said the meeting with the attorney general also revealed that Jones’s body was discovered an estimated 80 to 100 feet from his car.
“What happened at the car?” Parks asked at the news conference. “As we now know, he’s body was not found at the car. The gun was not found at the car. The gun was not found next to Corey. Those are answers and questions that have to be answered to match the forensic evidence with whatever the officer said.”
Jones, thanks to his work with several local bands, often traveled at odd hours transporting expensive instruments and cash from shows. Crump said Jones was licensed to carry a concealed weapon in Florida.
“That’s your Second Amendment right as an American citizen,” Crump said. “Are people going to come and support Corey’s right to have his gun and protect himself? Or are they going to say that’s not a convenient argument because it was Corey Jones?”
Jason Sickles is a national reporter for Yahoo News. Follow him on Twitter (@jasonsickles).
