Center Township officer charged with involuntary manslaughter in Good Samaritan's death
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Center Township officer was charged with involuntary manslaughter after he allegedly pushed a man who was trying to help a shooting victim in a Walmart parking lot last year.
An investigating grand jury recommended charges against John Hawk in Kenneth Vinyard's death. Hawk, who was off duty at the time, was also charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, recklessly endangering another person and perjury.
He turned himself in for arraignment and bail was set at $200,000 unsecured. He is out on bond, and his next court appearance is in January.
According to the criminal complaint, Hawk caused Vinyard's death after he hit him in the chest and performed "a leg sweep," causing Vinyard to fall backward and hit the asphalt "in a reckless or grossly negligent manner."
In a news release from the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General on Wednesday, officials said Vinyard was a witness to a shooting outside the Walmart last November and went up to a police officer about potential evidence he wanted to share. The release said Hawk, who was wearing plain clothes at the time, confronted Vinyard and pulled him away from the officer.
The AG's office said in the release that Hawk "did not announce himself as police, did not display law enforcement credentials, and was not heard or seen announcing the victim as under arrest. Additionally, under Center Township Police Department policy, Hawk did not have authority to place the man under arrest."
An investigation, the attorney general's office said, found that Vinyard was compliant with orders to back away from the scene, was "not aggressive, and did not pose a physical threat to Hawk or anyone else."
Police officers who were at the scene testified that Hawk was asked to secure the perimeter, "noting that Hawk did not have police credentials displayed and did not announce himself as police," according to the release.
The release from the attorney general's office said a grand jury found there was "no legal justification for Hawk's use of force against the victim."
"This sworn officer's actions caused the death of a man who did not present a threat of any kind on the day in question," Attorney General Michelle Henry said in the release. "Law enforcement officers take an oath to protect and serve, and a badge does not permit any officer to break the laws they are trusted to uphold. My office will hold public officials accountable when they step out of line and harm citizens of the Commonwealth."
The family believed Hawk's actions were unjustified, excessive, illegal and deadly.
"It's good news," the victim's sister, Lisa Vinyard, said. "I think it is one step in the right direction for Ken. I wish it would have been steeper charges. We are going to trust what the state of Pennsylvania has given us so far."
"It's been an unbearable nightmare," she added. "You wake up with it. You have it throughout the day. You go to bed with it. It's like living the same nightmare over and over again. The loss of Ken, our family will never be the same."
"My mom called me at work and I sobbed. I couldn't believe it," said Ashley Steele, Kenneth Vinyard's stepdaughter.
The victim's estate was awarded nearly $1 million to settle the civil lawsuit, but his family's lawyer had repeatedly called for charges against the officer.
The coroner ruled Vinyard's death an accident and said the cause was hypertensive and atherosclerotic disease, saying, "blunt force trauma of the head and associated stress that occurred during the confrontation contributed to his demise."
Center Township's police chief said Hawk is still employed with the department but has not been working.
Defense attorney Blaine Jones said he and his client, Hawk, were surprised by the charges.
"He's shocked," Jones said. "He's disappointed. He doesn't feel as though he was doing anything that evening besides helping his colleagues in law enforcement with respect to someone who was not obeying orders."