Eddie Irizarry’s family files wrongful death suit against fired Philadelphia officer, partner
Eddie Irizarry, 27, was shot and killed by an officer during a traffic stop back in August. Criminal charges against the former officer were dismissed by a judge on Tuesday.
PHILADELPHIA - The family of a man who was fatally shot by a Philadelphia police officer during a traffic stop has filed a wrongful death suit against the officer and his partner, FOX 29 has learned.
News of the lawsuit came one day after a Philadelphia judge dismissed all charges against former officer Mark Dial, who had previously been charged with murder in the shooting death of Eddie Irizarry.
FOX 29 spoke with members of Irizarry’s family on Tuesday, after the charges against Dial were dismissed.
Family of Eddie Irizarry speaks out after charges dropped against officer: 'We're going to continue to fight'
The family of Eddie Irizarry said they will ‘continue to fight’ after all charges were dropped against the officer who fatally shot the 27-year-old man during a traffic stop.
"We're going to continue to fight, we're going to appeal the case and continue to fight," Zoraida Garcia, Irizarry's aunt, told FOX 29. "He committed a crime and he needs to pay for the crime he committed.
The Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office has since entered a motion to refile the charges against Dial.
Body-worn camera video from Dial and his partner were shown at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing and showed Irizarry holding a knife near his right leg as police approached his stopped vehicle. The officers had pulled Irizarry over on a residential street after a short pursuit prompted by erratic driving.
The footage shows Dial shot Irizarry about seven seconds after getting out of a police SUV and walking over to the sedan. He fired a total of six rounds.
Eddie Irizarry: Officer charged with murder, bodycam released in deadly Philadelphia traffic stop shooting
Authorities have released body-worn camera video of a deadly police involved shooting as the officer involved turned himself in to face criminal charges Friday morning.
Police previously backtracked from their initial statements that Dial shot Irizarry outside the vehicle after he "lunged at" police with a knife. Dial, a five-year member of the force, was suspended after officials said he refused to cooperate with investigators.
Police said Dial was fired on Sept. 18.
Dial's partner, Officer Michael Morris, said the officers started following Irizarry after he sped past them in a bike lane and rounded a corner. They did not put on their lights and sirens but sent in information about the vehicle. Morris said he was not sure whether they received any information back from police radio.
Morris testified Tuesday that he saw the driver holding a knife with a black metal handle that could have looked like a gun. He said Irizarry started to raise it as Dial approached the car, which had stopped while going the wrong way on the one-way street.
Irizarry's family attorney Shaka Johnson called Tuesday's ruling "another dagger" in the family's faith in the legal process. He described the family's mood as "absolutely distraught" in an interview with FOX 29's Shaynah Ferreira.
"Sometimes we have to make noise to be heard, it's sad to say but here in the city, we have to make noise and we've been peaceful this whole time," Garcia said. "When you go peaceful, all charges get dropped."
The controversial ruling sparked planned and peaceful protests in Philadelphia Tuesday night.
While looting occurred at businesses across the city Tuesday night, Interim Police Commissioner John Stanford was adamant that those incidents were unrelated to the protests.
"This had nothing to do with the protests," Stanford said. "What we had tonight was a bunch of criminal opportunists take advantage of a situation to make an attempt to destroy our city."
Police say at least 52 arrests were made in connection with Tuesday’s looting.