BSO Deputy Indicted In Fatal Shooting Of Man With BB Gun
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FORT LAUDERDALE (CBSMiami) -- A Broward Grand Jury has indicted a Broward Sheriff's Deputy in the fatal shooting of a man who was carrying an air rifle down a busy Oakland Park street in 2013.
Dep. Peter Peraza is charged with manslaughter and faces up to 30 years in prison. He turned himself into the Broward County Jail Friday morning.
Jermaine McBean, 33, was shot July 31, 2013 outside his apartment complex near Fort Lauderdale by Dep. Peraza after 911 callers reported the man openly carrying what appeared to be a real rifle down a busy street.
In fact, it was an unloaded air rifle that witnesses told lawyers for McBean's family the computer engineer was carrying behind his head, with his finger nowhere near the trigger.
When officers arrived, they said McBean refused to drop his weapon.
McBean's family says it was likely headphones he was wearing that prevented him from hearing the commands by officers to drop what was later discovered to be an air rifle.
McBean's family says they waited a long time for this indictment.
"We recognize that this is just one step towards in getting justice for the murder of my brother," Alfred McBean, Jermaine McBean's brother.
McBean's attorney says witnesses say McBean never pointed the unloaded air rifle at deputies as Sheriff Scott Israel said at the scene back in 2013.
"The subject turned towards one of our deputies, pointed the rifle," Israel told reporters at the time.
The attorney for the McBean's claims BSO engaged in a lengthy coverup of the facts of the case -- including perjury, ignoring witnesses and even honoring Peraza after the shooting with a prestigious award. But the lawyer says this picture shows McBean's lifeless body with earbuds in his ears.
"They made a terrible, tragic mistake that day," attorney David Schoen said. "We believe they saw the earbuds beforehand but they certainly all saw them afterwards and they must have been shocked and they must have then concluded that they had to come up with a cover story."
As for that award Peraza received, in regards to this shooting CBS 4 News asked BSO if the sheriff has any plans to rescind the award. A spokesperson said that Sheriff Israel feels at this time any decision on that could unfairly impact the legal process.
Eric Schwartzreich, the attorney for Peraza, says his client is being scapegoated and punished for protecting the community.
"He never should have been indicted," Schwartzreich said. "He gets a call, a man with a rifle. Whether or not that rifle is real, what matters to the deputy is perception and that is Florida law."
But for the family of Jermaine McBean, they say the indictment gives them hope for the conviction of Peraza, while they struggle with the loss of a beloved man.
"It's left a void in our family and we know that it can never be replaced," Alfred McBean said.
Peraza is suspended from BSO. We're told that he is married with four kids.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division asked the FBI to open a probe into the shooting.
A grand jury heard testimony over a three-day period.
Broward Sheriff Scott Israel released a statement Friday on the indictment.
"I truly believe every hardworking deputy and officer in our nation is committed and dedicated to the community they serve. This is why they put their lives on the line each and every day. They believe in justice and how our judicial system should work.
We respect the grand jury process, and consistent with past practice, I have suspended Deputy Peraza without pay. Now, the case will go forward in the courts and a jury will weigh all the evidence and render a verdict.
For everyone in this case -- the McBean family, the Peraza family, the BSO family, everyone in our community - we want truth and justice to prevail."
In November, the Broward branch of the Black Lives Matter organization held protests in response to the shooting. McBean was African-American.