Family files $30 Million Dollar Suit: Black Man Allegedly Running from Baltimore Police, Fatally Shot in the Back

Relatives of a man shot and killed by Baltimore police last year are suing the department, claiming Dexter Hill was shot in the back as he ran away from officers. They're seeking 30 million dollars in damages from the officers, the department and Mayor Martin O'Malley. Attorneys for Hill's family say the 37-year-old carpenter and construction worker was walking on an East Baltimore street on March 17th, 2004, when he was stopped, searched and questioned by plainclothes officers. The unit stopped the carpenter and father of four as he walked North Bethel Street in east Baltimore. "Mr. Hill kneeled on the ground and put his hands in the air and said, 'I don't have anything, all I have is a dollar in my pocket,'" said Janell Byrd, an attorney for Hill's family. According to department policy, officers must identify themselves as police, even while in plain clothes. The lawsuit does not indicate that the officers identified themselves and states that Hill ran from police, but it doesn't mention why, Collins said The attorneys say Hill hid behind a tree, and when he got up to run again, Officer Mark Walrath saw him and shot him in the back from a distance. Walrath claimed that Hill had tried to charge him with a wooden board and was shot in self-defense. But the attorneys say that's not what eyewitnesses saw, and the only board found at the scene was too large and unwieldy to be used as a weapon.  The lawsuit also alleges a police cover-up, accusing officers of ordering witnesses to leave the scene. The lawsuit also alleges that residents covertly saw that police had moved the body, Collins reported. [more] and [more]