LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – A lawyer for Breonna Taylor's family has asked Louisville Metro Police to account for the whereabouts of an officer after taking part in the March raid on her apartment.
In a motion filed last week in Jefferson Circuit Court, attorney Sam Aguiar requested body camera footage for any officers who “attempted to locate” Det. Brett Hankison, communicated with Hankison or “recovered evidence removed from the scene” by the detective.
LMPD officers shot and killed Taylor, an emergency room tech and former EMT, during an early morning raid March 13. The shooting of Taylor, a black woman, has drawn national scrutiny and calls for an independent probe.
Aguiar also had questions about the movements of another officer, Josh Doerr, who was not among the three officers who conducted the raid.
“We have some legitimate concerns about the whereabouts of multiple officers involving the shooting and whether or not they left the scene prematurely,” Aguiar said in an interview Tuesday. “This is something we expect to be a larger issue once this litigation and the outside investigation continues.”
Aguiar declined to say what evidence he had that showed Hankison went missing at some point after the shooting.
A subsequent request by Aguiar asked police for information related to "the disappearance of Officer Hankison from the scene of the shooting of Breonna Taylor, efforts to locate him, efforts to communicate with him, his actions after leaving the scene and his eventual re-emergence"
Sgt. Lamont Washington, a spokesman for LMPD, said “it would be inappropriate for us to comment on pending litigation.”
Kenneth Walker, Taylor's boyfriend, told police he thought they were being robbed and fired at officers when they rushed in, hitting one in the leg. An attempted murder charge against him was dismissed last week.
Police Chief Steve Conrad on Thursday announced he will retire from LMPD at the end of June after leading the department for more than eight years.
While the three officers who raided Taylor’s home were not wearing body cams, according to police – Sgt. Jonathan Mattingly, Det. Myles Cosgrove and Hankison – Aguiar has requested body cam footage from 15 other officers who were on the scene at some point.
In addition, Aguiar has requested all drug and alcohol testing results from each of the three officers.
Aguiar has also requested:
- The complete, unredacted audio of the 911 call made by Walker on the date of the shooting, as well as the audio and transcripts of all 911 calls made to LMPD/emergency services (Metrosafe) relating to the shooting.
- All complete, unredacted PIU and PSU file for investigations involving alleged conduct of Mattingly, Cosgrove and Hankison.
- All Administrative Incident Reports involving alleged conduct of the three officers.
A lawsuit claims Hankison, Cosgrove and Mattingly "blindly fired" into Taylor's apartment, spraying bullets around the unit and neighboring units "with a total disregard for the value of human life."
Photos from the scene released to WDRB News by the legal team for Taylor's family show bullet holes scattered throughout the apartment, from the bathroom wall to a set of curtains in the living room, other windows into the residence and sauce pans in the kitchen. Some pierced the walls of a neighboring apartment, as well.
Nothing illegal was found in Taylor's apartment, and the main target of the raid had been taken into custody at his home several miles away before the raid on Taylor's apartment began, according to the lawsuit.
Records obtained by WDRB News show Hankison has been accused of receiving sexual favors from suspects and using excessive force in the past.
Hankison was accused in 2008 of receiving oral sex in exchange for not arresting a woman, and in 2015 a woman claimed he attempted to have sex with her in exchange for not taking her to jail, records show.
Both incidents were deemed to be "unfounded" by internal investigators with LMPD. No mention of the incidents were included in Hankison's personnel file.
In a separate 2008 incident, Hankison and other officers were accused of dragging a teenager out of a car and "beating" him, records show. An internal investigation concluded that the teen was "not assaulted and that any injuries received by the victim were from the suspect's own actions attempting to flee" from police. This incident was also deemed to be "unfounded," and LMPD did not punish or reprimand Hankison.
A 2009 investigation by LMPD's Professional Standards Unit also reveals Hankison violated departmental policies in April 2005 and August 2009, according to his personnel file.
In 2005, he improperly charged someone with carrying a concealed weapon for having a shotgun in their trunk. In 2009, he failed to notify his supervisor about third-degree assault and resisting arrest charges against an individual "so the appropriate photos could have been taken." He also failed to call for EMS when an arrested suspect swallowed cocaine.
In a response to the letter of reprimand, Hankison called the department's ruling on the April 2005 incident "unjust" and claimed he "never received any training" from LMPD regarding arrests for concealed carry of deadly weapons. He also refuted the department's claim that he failed to contact a supervisor about the 2009 charges in question.
Regarding the suspect who swallowed cocaine, Hankison said he did not call EMS because he did not believe the suspect was in physical danger.
"... In my extensive experience with drug dealers, the crack, if ingested in a package, will pass through their systems without negatively affecting their health because the packing doesn't break down in the digestive system," he wrote. "... Therefore, I believe that the sustained findings are not proven by the evidence and are excessive and do not reflect, accurately, my professional behavior during this arrest."
Hankison joined LMPD in January 2003, according to Conrad, and was promoted from the 6th Division to its Narcotics Division in June 2016. His personnel file includes dozens of commendations, including volunteering personal time to train officer recruits.
This story may be updated.
Copyright 2020 WDRB Media. All Rights Reserved.
