DA won’t handle shooting probe
Abelove cites prosecutions involving Troy cop
TROY, N. Y. » Faced with continued criticis mover his handling of a shooting involving a city police officer in 2016, Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove surprisingly announced Wednesday his office would recuse itself from another shooting involving a city officer that happened earlier this month.
After responding to a call last week to step aside by essentially saying his office would continue to investigate the shooting of DahmeekMcDonald, 22, about 6: 40 p. m. Aug. 15 by city police Officer Jerrod Iler as McDonald sat in his vehicle on 8th Street, Abelove abruptly switched course in a news release.
“After conducting a thorough reviewof pending cases inwhich Troy Police Officer Jerrod Iler is involved. I have determined that a conflict of interest exists which necessitates my recusal fromthe investigation,” Abelove said in the new release. “While I am certain that my office has the ability to conduct a fair and impartial prosecution in this matter, the aforementioned conflict requires my office to seek recusal.”
Instead, Abelove said he will ask for a special prosecutor to determine if Iler should face any criminal charges after shooting McDonald twice, hitting him once in the shoulder and grazing his head.
Iler, a five- year veteran of the force with an exemplary service record, according to Chief John
Tedesco, was notified, along with other patrol officers, by state parole officials at the start of their shift Aug. 15 that they were looking for McDonald. Officers were provided with a vehicle description and partial license plate number and told the vehicle had been located on 8th Street, Tedesco said, Several other officers were also on the scene as the incident unfolded, with a total of four officers placed on administrative leave while the investigation goes on.
City police requested assistance from the FBI last week in looking into the shooting, joining investigators fromthe city, as well as state police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The shooting sparked outrage in the neighborhood around the scene, with about 100 people marching from the site to City Hall the day after the shooting. After meeting with Mayor Patrick Madden, though, Messiah Cooper, McDonald’s uncle and leader of the protest, urged patience while the process has a chance to run its course. He also challenged the community to help address a problem city officials have admitted to for several years, a lack of blacks and other minorities on the police force.
City police are nowin the midst of two separate, active investigations of officerinvolved shootings, with state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman yet to release any results fromhis investigation into the fatal shooting of Edwin Thevenin, a Watervliet man who police say tried to flee a traffic stop in the early morning hours of April 17, 2016. Police say the brief chase ended when Thevenin struck a guide rail at the entrance to the Collar City Bridge off Hoosick Street, but that Thevenin then drove his car into a police cruiser with Sgt. Randy French pinned between the vehicles. French responded by firing eight shots into the windshield of Thevenin’s car.
McDonald’s attorney, Mark Mishler, cited that case last week in calling on Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove to recuse himself from this investigation. Abelove himself is also being investigated by Schneiderman’s office for his handling of the Thevenin shooting after he initially refused to cede control of the investigation to Schneiderman under an executive order signed in 2013 by Gov. Andrew Cuomo that gave the state attorney general authority to investigate any officer- involved incident that involves the death of a civilian.
Before he did turn over the investigation, however, Abelove convened a grand jury that cleared French of any criminal responsibility, a move that would make any future prosecution much more difficult, depending on the results of Schneiderman’s probe.