Dallas Fails to Indict Police Officer who Fatally Shot Unarmed Latino Teenager

August 19, 2004 Tron Nick

Investigation criticized

A grand jury declined to indict a Dallas police lieutenant Wednesday who fatally shot an unarmed teenage car-burglary suspect in March while working an off-duty security job. Lt. John Dagen, a 28-year department veteran, told investigators that he thought a passenger inside the car driven by Orlando Aranda, 18, was reaching for a gun when he fired his weapon. Steve Sanderfer, an attorney representing Mr. Aranda's family, said the ruling is further proof that police and prosecutors do not vigorously pursue investigations when the suspect is a police officer. "I do not believe the Dallas Police Department ever truly investigated this as they would if it had been someone who was not a Dallas police officer who had killed someone," Mr. Sanderfer said. Aranda died just a few days shy of his19th birthday. The teenager and two others were allegedly breaking into a car when Dagen spotted them. The lieutenant said one of the boys made a threatening gesture, and fearing for his life Dagen opened fire, shooting Aranda in the back of the head from 3 feet away. Aranda's family said it was excessive force. "To take his life for a broken window ... no, it's not justice," said aunt Laura Caudillio. [more

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The last officer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to be indicted for a use-of-force-related death was a former Grand Prairie officer who was found not guilty in a trial. Blake Hubbard was acquitted in 1997 of criminal wrongdoing in the 1996 shooting death of Joe Calloway, a mentally ill man the officer said lunged at a fellow officer with a pocketknife. His indictment was the first in 25 years. [more ]