Dearborn Sued for $10M Over Police Shooting of Unarmed Woman

DEARBORN, MI — The Dearborn police officer had been disciplined at least three times for improper use of force and aggressive tactics before he fatally shot a Detroit woman outside Fairlane Mall last January, according to allegations in a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court earlier this month by the victim’s family.

Police said have said the officer, who was identified as James Wade in the lawsuit, acted in self-defense when Janet Wilson, 31, tried to run over an officer with her car. However, the lawsuit filed on behalf of Wilson’s family by Southfield civil rights attorney Vince Colella on behalf of Wilson’s family, alleges the shooting was “unjust” and that police officers stormed her vehicle with their guns drawn, according to media reports.

No one has been criminally charged in the shooting of Wilson, who was shot multiple times in her chest and arms. Wade allegedly fired off four rounds.

The lawsuit, which names both Wade and the city as defendants, alleges the police department knew about Wade’s history of excessive force. He was disciplined at least three times:

• On June 2, 2015, he was reprimanded and suspended for six months for “overly aggressive and inappropriate tactics” during another police call to Fairlane Mall;
• On March 26, 2015, he was reprimanded for improper use of force in an incident at the Dearborn municipal building;
• On April 1, 2012, he was allegedly involved in an incident in which overly aggressive vehicular chase tactics were used.

Wilson was shot after a Jan. 27 incident involving mall security, who contacted Dearborn police about a “disorderly mental female.”

Colella has asked the police department to turn over dash camera video from the shooting, but authorities so far have not complied, the Detroit Free Press reports.

“At such a fragile time in community relations with law enforcement, it is deplorable that any city would refuse the opportunity for transparency,” Colella said.

The city has not yet been served with the lawsuit, Mary Laundroche, Dearborn’s director of public information, told The Detroit News. She said the city has no comment.

Wilson died in the second officer-involved fatal shooting in less than two months. In mid-December, Kevin Matthews, 35, of Detroit was shot multiple times by a Dearborn officer in a struggle after a foot chase that started in Dearborn and ended in Detroit.

Wilson wasn’t armed, but police have said the black Chevrolet she was driving was a lethal weapon. Michigan State Police First Lt. Michael Shaw said after the shooting that Wilson was “armed with a three-ton vehicle.”

See Also

• Woman Shot and Killed Near Fairlane Mall in Dearborn
• Emotions High After 2nd Fatal Dearborn Police Shooting
• Feds to Review Dearborn Police Use of Force Policy
• Officer Shoots Unarmed Suspect After Struggle

“Armed or unarmed, what does that mean exactly?” Shaw said. “I think everyone wants it to be clear cut, but more police officers are killed during the year with a vehicle than guns. ... So was she armed? Absolutely.”

In April, after the back-to-back shootings of unarmed African-Americans, the Justice Department said federal officials will review the Dearborn Police Department’s use-of-force policies and provide de-escalation training under a federal program that provides technical assistance.

Intervention by the Justice Department’s Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS Office) came at the request of Dearborn Police Chief Ronald Haddad.

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