Bond is denied for Md. officer in handcuffed man’s fatal shooting
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. — A judge denied bond Wednesday for a Maryland police officer who has been charged with murder after being accused of fatally shooting a handcuffed man in his patrol car.
Judge Robert Heffron Jr. said he found convincing evidence that Prince George’s County Police Cpl. Michael Owen Jr. posed a danger to the community. Owen’s defense attorney had asked for him to be freed without bond.
Investigators didn’t find any evidence of a fight between Owen and William Howard Green before Green was fatally shot Monday night in the front passenger seat of a patrol car, police said in a report on a murder charge against the officer.
That finding contradicted statements on the night of the shooting by a department spokeswoman, who told reporters that two “independent witnesses” said they saw or heard a struggle “of some sort” coming from the patrol car before they heard loud bangs.
Owen fired seven shots at Green and struck him multiple times, according to the police report released Wednesday.
A prosecutor, Renee Joy, said Green had complied with officers’ commands when he was taken out of the car and handcuffed. She added that the man posed “absolutely no threat.”
Supporters of Green clapped after the judge denied bail for Owen, whose next court date is set for Feb. 28.
“Thank you, Jesus,” a woman who identified herself as Green’s fiancee said outside the courtroom after the brief hearing. She referred questions to an attorney for the family. The attorney, William “Billy” Murphy, didn’t immediately respond to an email and telephone message seeking comment Wednesday.
Owen had handcuffed Green, 43, of Washington, D.C., behind his back and placed him in the cruiser after responding to a traffic accident and finding him sleeping in his vehicle, apparently under the influence of an unknown substance, the report said.
About five to 10 minutes after Owen placed Green in his cruiser, a witness heard gunshots and saw the wounded man still seated in the front passenger seat with his hands cuffed behind his back, police said.
Investigators did not find any weapons in Green’s possession or in his vehicle. Witnesses told officers Green had struck their vehicle, police said in a news release.
Owen a 10-year veteran of the force, was arrested Tuesday on charges of second-degree murder, voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, first-degree assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence.
Prince George’s County Police Chief Hank Stawinski said during a news conference Tuesday that he asked his special investigations response team to file the charges. Stawinski called the announcement the most difficult of his tenure as police chief.
“I am unable to come to our community this evening and provide you with a reasonable explanation for the events that occurred last night,” the chief told reporters. “I concluded that what happened last night is a crime.”
During an earlier news conference, police department spokeswoman Christina Cotterman had said two witnesses told police they either saw or heard a struggle before the shooting. Cotterman also said officers smelled PCP and believed the man was under the influence of that drug. However, Stawinski later said PCP did not appear to have been involved and that no account of a struggle in the cruiser could be corroborated.
John Mathis, the son of Green’s fiancee, told the Washington Post the family has cellphone videos witnesses took of the deadly encounter.