DA CHARGES EX-DEPUTY WITH MURDER
Russell resigned days after shooting fleeing suspect outside jail
A former sheriff ’s deputy who shot an unarmed detainee in May as the man ran from authorities outside the downtown San Diego jail has been charged with murder, a rare move by prosecutors that makes him the first member of local law enforcement to face a murder charge in the shooting death of a suspect.
The District Attorney’s Office announced Monday that it is charging former detentions deputy Aaron Russell, 23, with second-degree murder in the May 1 death of Nicholas Peter Bils, 36.
Russell, who resigned from the county Sheriff ’s Department in the days after the shooting, is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in San Diego Superior Court. He is charged with second-degree murder, which carries a potential sentence of 15
years to life in prison. He also faces an allegation that he used a gun in the killing, which could add up to 10 years to his sentence if he is convicted.
Russell, who once worked as a detentions deputy, was arrested Monday and booked into county jail. His bail has been set at $1 million, but that amount could be modified at the court hearing. He had been with the department about 18 months at the time of the shooting.
It is rare for prosecutors to file charges against local law enforcement officers when they shoot someone under color of authority.
San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan said in a news release that the decision to charge followed a “thorough review of all the objective facts and evidence” in the case by specialized prosecutors and investigators.
“When a life is taken, we must make decisions based in facts
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and law, and not ones that are influenced by the status of the accused as a peace officer nor the status of the victim,” Stephan said. “These decisions must be made solely in the interest of justice and not based on favoritism nor public opinion. Every person must be accountable under the law.”
Stephan noted that her office reviewed the shooting under a new law that went into effect Jan. 1 that raised the standard for when law enforcement officers can use deadly force.
Assembly Bill 392, authored by Assemblywoman Shirley Weber, D-san Diego, allows deadly force by law enforcement only when “necessary,” when an officer’s life or the lives of others are in imminent danger and when there is no other alternative to de-escalate the situation, such as using non-lethal methods.
That’s a change from the old standard, which allowed using deadly force when an officer had a “reasonable” fear of imminent harm.
Defense attorney Richard Pinckard, who is representing Russell, said in an email that his client voluntarily surrendered to authorities Monday afternoon. He said he and his client are “disappointed” with the decision to charge, “but frankly not surprised.”
“In today’s climate the decisions and actions of all stake holders in the law enforcement system are under intense scrutiny— from the deputies with boots on the ground, to the prosecutors, to the judges,” Pinckard said. “At this point, the safest thing for the District Attorney to do is file a criminal
complaint and let the case work its way through the criminal justice process.”
The decision to charge Russell comes as the country has been grappling with issues related to police violence, specifically the deaths of Black men and women at the hands of law enforcement. Weeks of protests followed the May 25 death of George Floyd, a 46year-old Black man in Minneapolis who died after a White police officer knelt on the man’s neck for just under nine minutes.
In this case, both Russell and Bils are White.
The Sheriff’s Department referred comment on the case to the District Attorney’s Office.
Attorney Eugene Iredale, who represents Bils’ family, said he and family members would make statements Tuesday following Russell’s arraignment. Bils’ mother has said her son was mentally ill and afraid of law enforcement.
Iredale, said Bils was unarmed, running away and “represented no threat of harm to anyone as Russell shot him in the left arm, the flank, and in the back.”
The incident was captured on surveillance video. However, prosecutors said they are not releasing it, as it “is now evidence in a pending criminal case and releasing it publicly could jeopardize the defendant’s right to a fair trial.”
The video will likely be entered into evidence if the case goes to trial.
Under a state law implemented last year, video footage of police shootings should typically be released within 45 days, but agencies can withhold video in certain instances, including if it’s part of a criminal investigation. According to San Diego police, Bils escaped from a California State Park ranger’s car May 1 just outside a vehicle gate to the San Diego Central Jail on Front Street and B Street.
Bils apparently made his escape by slipping at least one wrist from his handcuffs, then reaching out the open window of a ranger’s older model Ford Crown Victoriastyle car to open the door from the outside, San Diego police homicide Lt. Matt Dobbs said at the time.
Russell and another deputy were on their way into work at the jail when they saw the escape and chased Bils, who ran north on Front Street toward vehicles stopped in traffic, according to Dobbs and police homicide Capt. Richard Freedman.
That’s when Russell opened fire, shooting Bils at least once, Dobbs said.
Rangers had arrested Bils earlier that day at Old Town San Diego State Park for allegedly threatening a ranger with a golf club.
In an interview with NBC7 in early May, Kathleen Bils said she was told her son “brandished a golf putter” near a ranger at the park.
She said he would use the putter to hit a ball while walking with his dog.
Kathleen Bils also told the television station her son was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. She said he had previous run-ins with law enforcement, was afraid of officers and deputies, and didn’t understand the coronavirus-related public health orders that prohibited access to state parks.
Since 1980, The District Attorney’s Office has charged six officers involved in shootings. Three of them were on-duty.
In addition to Russell’s case:
• In 2008, San Diego police Officer Frank White was charged with brandishing and negligently firing his gun after shooting and wounding a woman and her 7-year-old son in an Oceanside parking lot. White was off-duty, and the woman, whom he did not know, began following him in apparent road rage. A jury acquitted White. The city later settled with the boy’s father for $500,000.
• In 1995, San Diego police Officer Christopher Chaney was charged with assault with a deadly weapon for shooting a man in the
arm after a chase while on duty. A jury acquitted Chaney a year later, and he returned to patrol duty.
• In 1983, Escondido police Officer David Delange was charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting a woman who was being held hostage by a bank robber. A jury acquitted him a year later, and he was awarded disability retirement. The victim’s family filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against Delange and settled for an undisclosed amount of money.
• In 1982, San Diego police Officer Frank Dennis Smith was charged with three counts of assault with a deadly weapon after firing at a carload of teenagers while off duty. The teens had thrown an empty plastic cup at his Datsun, and he followed them for 13 miles trying to pull them over. Smith was fired from the police force, and in 1984 he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge after two previous trials ended in hung juries. He was ordered to perform 100 hours of community service and prohibited from carrying a firearm.
• In 1981, Sheriff ’s Deputies Charles Bailey and Alan Wittig were charged with assault with a deadly weapon and firing at an occupied vehicle after a disturbance outside a taco shop in Hillcrest. The deputies were off duty when they fired 11 shots into a car, hitting a man in the arm. The 4th District Court of Appeal upheld their convictions, and they were sentenced to 90 days each at the county’s Work Furlough Center.