Attorney of Tucson officer calls mayor’s statements ‘outrageous’

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The attorney, who represents a Tucson police officer who shot a shoplifting suspect in a motorized wheelchair nine times from behind, criticized Tucson Mayor Regina Romero for calling the police officer’s actions “untenable” before the facts were gathered had been.

Mike Storie, who represents Officer Ryan Remington and has represented police officers in southern Arizona for more than 20 years, held a press conference Wednesday afternoon saying he was deeply concerned about Romero’s comments – not Remington’s actions.

“We currently live in a climate where we have a very irresponsible mayor who comes out less than 24 hours after the incident and makes inflammatory statements,” said Storie.

Remington made headlines across the country Monday night after he fatally shot and killed 61-year-old Richard Lee Richards, who was suspected of stealing a toolbox from a Walmart near Valencia Road and Oak Tree Drive in south Tucson.

Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said a Walmart agent reached out to Richards and asked him to produce a receipt, whereupon Richards pulled out a knife and said, “Here’s your receipt.”

Magnus said Remington, who was an off-duty security guard for Walmart, ordered Richards to stop and surrender the knife, after which a Walmart employee heard Richards say: shoot me. “

Remington followed Richards into the parking lot and eventually called for backup after reporting that Richards “pulled a knife at me.”

Officer Stephanie Taylor replied and arrived at the scene as Remington approached Richards near the Lowe’s entrance. Both cops ordered Richards to stop before Remington fired his gun nine times and hit Richards in the back and side.

Magnus said the shooting “worried him deeply” and drew Remington to fire for violating the department’s guidelines in the use of lethal force.

Storie said the publicly available security and body camera footage did not include that Richards threatened the Walmart employee and many of Remington’s attempts to de-escalate the situation. Storie said Richards’ remarks about the need to be shot to drop his knife suggest that Richards was seeking “cop suicide.”

Storie also suggested that an incident that looks bad to someone outside law enforcement may still fall under the department’s guidelines.

“People might be offended by the number of times he shot,” said Storie. “I even asked why he handcuffed the guy after he was shot. That’s all according to the guidelines. And it might be offensive to people, but guess what?

Romero said Remington’s actions were “ruthless and unjustifiable” and that the Pima County Attorney’s Office had their full support in the investigation.

Storie said he trusted prosecutors to be fair and objective in their investigation, while describing Romero’s comments as “outrageous”.

Romero defended her comments in an email to The Arizona Republic.

“The police union is not the most objective arbiter on this matter,” said Romero. “The video speaks for itself. As I mentioned yesterday, I ask our community to stay calm and be patient while the investigation follows.”

The Pima County Prosecutor’s Office, which is conducting a criminal investigation into the shooting, also released a written statement Wednesday expecting to receive evidence from the Tucson police next week.

“The PCAO’s review of this incident is not influenced or accelerated by media coverage or public opinion,” the agency said. “Once the PCAO has reviewed their evidence, it will bring the public up to date.”

According to their website, the Tucson Police Department uses a company called Off Duty Management to handle recruitment requests for off duty officers. The website says officers cannot be hired in the following circumstances:

• Officials may not be hired for an event that has armed private security personnel present.
• Officials are prohibited from providing civil services or appearing as witnesses in civil proceedings.
• Officers cannot be hired as private bodyguards or bouncers at an event.
• Officials are not allowed to be hired if alcoholic beverages are the main business, but with the consent of the police chief or his agent.

The Tucson Police Department has been unable to confirm whether Remington was hired through Off Duty Management.

Reach reporter Perry Vandell at 602-444-2474 or perry.vandell@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @PerryVandell.

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