Family Of Man Shot By Arlington Officers Asking For Answers
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ARLINGTON (CBS11) - The family of a man killed by an Arlington police officer during a traffic stop on February 1, showed up at the police department Wednesday asking for answers.
Twenty-seven-year-old Tavis Crane was shot after police say he ran over an officer with his car.
The family said two witnesses who were inside the car, along with Crane's 2-year-old daughter, say police shot crane before the officer was hit. Police said they have depositions from the two, confirming law enforcement's version of the story.
Communication between police and the Cranes has been challenging according to all accounts.
Crane's mother said her biggest desire is to view dash camera video of the incident before it becomes public information.
"The public didn't give birth to Tavis. I did," Dee Crane said. "I deserve that. I deserve that. So, no. That is re-lynching him. No. What happened also I need to know what happened as a person with my lawyer. I need to know."
The Crane family and a family representative waited in the police department lobby hoping a representative of the department would talk to them.
In a news release, the department said it's tried repeatedly to contact Crane's mother.
"Unfortunately, the department's efforts to make direct contact with the mother of Tavis Crane to keep her personally informed have been unsuccessful," the statement said.
The family's attorney said the department has ignored calls from his office.
"We have reached out to them on behalf of our office," said attorney Lee Merritt. "They have returned Miss Crane's calls to her directly. That is a very strange policy for the Arlington Police Department to refuse to speak to the attorneys for the family."
But the department news release stated, "To date, we have yet to hear from the family themselves regarding whom they have authorized us to communicate with concerning case progress."
After more than an hour waiting, the attorneys asked the front desk to phone back into the department to see what was happening.
"They responded that they cannot speak with us and that we should speak with the City Attorney's Office instead," Merritt said. "So they're speaking out of both sides of their mouths," said Merritt.
CBS11 asked Crane's mother if this was the end of her efforts to privately see the dash cam video.
"No. No. No," she repeated slowly as she shook her head vigorously. "There will be justice for Tavis."
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