Prosecutors on Tuesday dismissed charges against a police officer who struck and killed a West Michigan boy who was fleeing from a stolen vehicle.
Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker instead charged the teenage driver with causing death while fleeing police.
Riley Doggett, 17, was hit by a patrol car driven by a sheriff’s deputy on April 8 after a high-speed pursuit through Kent and Ottawa counties and died from head injuries on May 9.
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Investigators said Doggett and another teenager who was driving fled on foot after their stolen Range Rover crashed into a parked vehicle in a business district.
Becker said Doggett had a cellphone, not a gun, but the deputy believed Doggett was a dangerous person.
“He was not attempting to use a deadly weapon against a fleeing felon, he was simply attempting to prevent the escape,” the prosecutor said.
Becker said the deputy grabbed Doggett’s legs with the side of his patrol car, but the results were “horrific.”
A Kent County, Michigan, sheriff’s deputy who struck and killed a fleeing teenage suspect with his car will not be charged.
Ben Johnson, an attorney for Doggett’s family, publicly called on authorities last week to release the dashcam footage and other details, saying the family has been in the dark for too long.
Even if the boy did “something stupid,” he should not be the victim of “unlawful, unnecessary deadly force,” Johnson said Friday, just hours before Doggett’s memorial service.
“Their job is to arrest him, that’s it. They’re not judge, jury or executioner,” Johnson said of police.
Doggett’s mother, Becky Wilbert, said despite the circumstances leading to his death, he was a “good kid.”
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“He was funny, smart and did well in school,” Wilbert said. “He was always joking around and making everyone laugh. He was the glue that brought our family together.”
