The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Jury finds police officer guilty
Sergeant faced charges stemming from shooting after traffic stop
WEST CHESTER >> West Caln Sgt. Anthony Sparano was convicted of two charges involving an incident where Sparano fired his weapon at a fleeing motorist following a traffic stop.
A jury found Sparano, of Coatesville, guilty of recklessly endangering another person and propulsion of missiles into an occupied vehicle after a week-long trial in Chester County Court of Common Pleas.
Evidence presented at trial showed that Sparano, a member of the West Caln Police Department, shot at a motorist as she drove away from a traffic stop, striking the vehicle from behind. The driver was not struck by the gunfire.
District Attorney Christopher L. de Barrena-Sarobe said, “I want to thank the jury for their work on this difficult trial. This case shows that the Chester County DA’s Office and law enforcement are committed to applying the law evenly to all citizens, even police officers.”
Sparano was arrested in December
2021, a few weeks following the incident in which Takeshia Landry, the driver of the vehicle, was not seriously injured.
Sparano pulled over Landry, who was living in Ohio at the time and was traveling to Washington, D.C., on Nov. 10, 2021, for running a red light at the intersection of Route 10 and Compass Road. When she hesitated in giving him her license and registration, the encounter escalated into a shouting match. As Sparano tried to open her car door, she sped away, and he drew his service handgun and fired a single shot at the rear of the car. The bullet pierced the driver’s side rear window.
She was taken into custody af
ter a brief chase south on Route 10. The entire incident was captured on Sparano’s body camera, his dash camera, and a camera that Landry had with her at the time with which she had filed other police encounters.
During Landry’s direct testimony as Deputy District Attorney Bridget Gallagher played the numerous video clips of the encounter, Sparano sat at the defense table, staring ahead without apparent emotion.
In the series of videos played by both Gallagher and DiFabio, Sparano can be seen pulling Landry over on Route 10 south
of the village of Compass around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 10, 2021. But she immediately began filming him on a camera she had in her 2009 Chrysler sedan because, she said, she did not know why she was being stopped and was “nervous and scared.”
When she asked Sparano why she had been stopped after he asked for her license and registration, the video shows him he became aggressive and more demanding. He told her she made a left turn through a red light and hearing her denials, he repeatedly demanded that she give him the documents, and she did not.
“I became even more fearful,” Landry told the jurors. “I’m stopped by an officer who appears to be very upset.”
After some back and forth about her license, Sparano can be seen reaching inside the car for the camera, which dropped into the car’s compartment. When he attempted to open the door, she hit the accelerator and drove away.
On his dash-mounted patrol camera, Sparano can be seen drawing his service weapon and firing it at the sedan as it pulled away. The shot hit the rear driver’s side window, smashing it.
After he chased Landry and she pulled over on Route 10, he reached into the car, grabbed her by her hair, and began punching her face and head, holding her neck, and pulling her out of the car while she was still seat-belted inside.
“Get out of the (expletive)
car!” Sparano could be heard shouting. “Get out of the (expletive) car!”
“I can’t!” Landry is heard saying. “You can’t hit me like this. I’m in seat belt, sir. Let me get out.”
Eventually, Sparano and another officer who arrives at the scene are able to pull her out of the car and force her to the ground, handcuffing her. All the while, Landry complains that what they are doing is against the law.
“I know my rights,” she exclaims.
In announcing the arrest in December 2021 of Sparano, then-District Attorney Deb Ryan took a hard line on the case, saying in a press release her office would, “hold those who violate the law accountable for their actions, regardless
of their profession.
“No one is above the law. Every day, we hold our law enforcement officers to the highest standards and expect them always to honor the value of human life above all else,” said Ryan. “They have a duty to attempt to de-escalate potentially volatile situations and never to engage in the use of excessive force.
“The use of deadly force, in this case, was not justified in any way,” she contended.
Judge Allison Bell Royer presided over the trial.
The case was investigated by the Chester County Detectives. Deputy District Attorney Bridget C. Gallagher was the prosecutor.
The jury was presented with video evidence from
police body cameras, police dash cameras, and testimony from a variety of witnesses — including the Landry.
The defendant was found not guilty of simple assault and convicted of recklessly endangering another person and propulsion of missiles. Both convictions are misdemeanor offenses.
The verdict was read in open court Friday evening. After dismissing the jury, Judge Royer ordered a presentence investigation and indicated she would attempt to schedule a sentencing hearing in approximately one month.