Officer Justified In Elmhurst Police-Involved Shooting: County

ELMHURST, IL — An Elmhurst Police officer who shot a suspect twice after the man allegedly tried to hit him with a car was justified in firing his weapon, the DuPage County State's Attorney's Office has ruled. The Attorney's Office said in a release that every case involving the use of deadly force by a police officer must be carefully investigated.

In this case, Elmhurst Police Officer Alexander Kefaloukos shot Byron Auterberry twice, once in the left forearm and once in the right thigh area, the State's Attorney's Office said in a release. The office found Kefaloukos' actions completely justified and no criminal charges will be filed against the officer.

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The incident was reported back in February, when Kefaloukos and another officer conducted a traffic stop on a car driven by Auterberry and had passenger Kelly Smith in the car, who were both suspects in a retail theft. The officers, in two different squad cars, pulled Auterberry over at an intersection and approached the vehicle.

According to the state's attorney, both officers, who were in plain clothes, identified themselves as police officers. They were wearing their police badge, as well as a bullet-proof vest over their clothes with the word "POLICE" on the back of the vest.

Both officers ordered Auterberry to stop the car and get out, which the suspect did not do, the State's Attorney's Office said in a release. Kefaloukos approached Auterberry's car from the front and stayed there will the other officer approached from behind the car. At this time, Auterberry continued to move his car forward in a jerking manner, which prompted both officers to draw their service weapons.

According to the State's Attorney's Office, Kefaloukos remained in front of the car, while the other officer holstered his weapon and attempted to open the driver's side door while telling Auterberry to stop and open the door. Auterberry pulled the door closed and told the officer, "I'm not going back to jail," and "no," and began to drive toward Kefaloukos.

The State's Attorney's Office said both officers continued to tell Auterberry to stop and open the door, but he ignored them. As Auterberry accelerated toward Kefaloukos, the officer was forced to jump to his right out the way of the moving vehicle, and Kefaloukos fired his service weapon twice through the driver’s side window, hitting Auterberry both times.

Auterberry continued accelerating, crashed his vehicle into another vehicle in the curb lane and fled the scene at a high rate of speed, according to the State's Attorney's Office. He was chased by police but eluded capture. Police said he was later taken into custody the next day at a relative's home in Chicago.

"It is important to remember that police officers are often forced to make split-second decisions about the appropriate amount of force necessary to bring a tense, uncertain and rapidly evolving situation under control," the State's Attorney's Office said in a release.

The State's Attorney's Office determined that it was "objectively reasonable" for Kefaloukos to believe Auterberry posed an immediate threat of death or great bodily harm to himself or others and the use of force was necessary to contain that threat.

"Given the violent actions of Mr. Auterberry, his refusal to obey repeated police commands along with his actions of accelerating quickly in the direction of Officer Kefaloukos, Officer Kefaloukos acted lawfully and was justified in discharging his weapon in order to prevent imminent death or great bodily harm to himself or others," the State's Attorney's Office said in a release. "Officer Kefaloukos was also justified in discharging his service weapon to defeat Auterberry’s attempt at escape once Auterberry committed aggravated assault on a police officer which involved the infliction or threatened infliction of great bodily harm and then to escape by use of a deadly weapon."

State's Attorney Robert Berlin said Kefaloukos made every attempt to reach a peaceful conclusion under very stressful conditions.

"His concern for the safety and well-being of other motorists and the public at large is a testament to the excellent training that the Elmhurst Police Department provides for their entire force. Unfortunately, Mr. Auterberry’s failure to obey the Officers’ commands and his aggressive, threatening behavior resulted in Officer Kefaloukos discharging his weapon," Berlin said in a release. "Had Mr. Auterberry simply listened to and obeyed the officers’ commands, this entire incident would never have happened.”

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