It was over a stolen weed eater that nine incompetent cops busted into a man’s house and shot him dead after rousing him from his sleep in Kentucky — only to learn they had raided the wrong home.
Last week, a grand jury declined to indict the cops who shot and killed Douglas Harless around midnight on Dec. 23, 2024, a 63-year-old man with no criminal record who grabbed a 9mm pistol after hearing people breaking into his home.
London police say they killed Harless because he pointed the gun at them, making them fear for their lives while they were trying to recover the weed eater stolen from a home owned by a local judge.
But a wrongful death lawsuit against the cops states Harless was the one in fear for his life because he was confronted by armed intruders inside his home while living in a state with strong stand your ground laws.
“Mr. Harless reasonably feared imminent peril of death or great bodily harm by those who appeared to be breaking into his home in the middle of the night,” states the claim filed by Harless’ two daughters, Nicki Lawson and Mona Alsip.
“Just seconds after banging on Mr. Harless’ door, one or more of the Police Officer Defendants breached the door of Mr. Harless’ home,” the filing continues.
“Seconds later, one or more Police Officer Defendants shot and killed Mr. Harless.”
The shooting has sparked daily vigils and monthly marches by local residents protesting in front of the police department and city hall, demanding justice for Harless, who was killed outside London city limits.
“I just want answers, accountability and action to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” local resident Jamie Burns, an organizer for the monthly protests, told local media.
“There should be policy and procedure changes, and to make sure they’re following the policies, and none of that’s really happening. There’s no changes happening.”
The Address was ‘Clearly Visible’ to Cops
The 193-page lawsuit filed by Thomas Law Offices includes several exhibits that shed light on what led to the shooting, including the initial police report that states a man named Hobert Buttery admitted to stealing the weed eater from the vacant home of Laurel County Judge-Executive David Westerfield.
The police report states the weed eater belonged to Westerfield’s nephew, Charles Hensley, who was allowed to store his tools in the garage of the vacant home, which he used for work.
Hensley contacted London police on the afternoon of the shooting after noticing several tools had been stolen from the garage, telling them he suspected Buttery, who once worked for him.
Police detained Buttery, who admitted to the thefts, telling the cops he had exchanged the weed eater for drugs from a man named James Steele. Buttery did not provide cops with an exact address but said that Steele lived on Vanzant Road, which includes multiple homes.
Once Buttery was in custody, London police obtained a search warrant for 489 Vanzant Road, where Steele had once lived before he was evicted in August 2023, more than a year before the shooting.
The claim states that Steele contacted Laurel Ambulance Service three times while living at the home, and all three times, they were able to find his address without a problem.
But that night, the cops pulled up to Harless’ residence at 511 Vanzant Road instead of 489 Vanzant Road in an attempt to recover the stolen weed eater.
At the time of the events alleged in this Complaint, “511 Vanzant Road” was clearly visible on the outside of Mr. Harless’ home.
Despite these clear markings, London Police Officers attempted to execute a search warrant in the middle of the night on 511 Vanzant Road, the wrong home.
In serving the alleged search warrant on the wrong address, one or more London Police Officers opened fire, killing Mr. Harless. According to the autopsy report from the Office of the State Medical Examiner, Mr. Harless died of multiple gunshot wounds, including rounds that perforated his right lung, head, heart, aorta, and pulmonary artery.
Listed in the lawsuit as defendants are London Police Officers Jerry Hollon, Andrew Jackson, Ashley Taylor, Elbert Riley, Landry Collett, Wesley Wolfe, Troy Truett, Jonathan Jackson, Josh Morgan, as well as other “unknown defendants” that may have participated in the raid.
Hollon, who was police chief of the London Police Department at the time of the raid, resigned last year in the midst of the monthly protests, citing “the current political environment” for his decision to resign.
Buttery was sentenced to six years in prison last year over the thefts because he was a “persistent felony offender.”
Last month, a local independent journalist named Bobby Ellison filed a lawsuit against the city of London and its mayor, Randal Weddle, accusing them of censoring negative comments about the shooting from the community on their social media pages.
Ellison also accuses the city and mayor of retaliating against him for his coverage of the shooting by removing him from the city’s media distribution list, which is how the city keeps reporters informed of newsworthy information.
According to Ellison’s claim that was filed in federal court:
As London has prevented any critics from commenting on the posts, censorship and prevention of any opposition to Defendant Weddle and the City of London is apparent.
Critics, like the Plaintiff, have had their voices silenced in their totality. What is masquerading as a forum for public opinion is, in reality, an echo-chamber for pro-Randall advocates.
The actions of Defendants are unconstitutional and are actively causing damage not only to Plaintiff, but to the citizens of London, Kentucky who are being mislead with regard to public opinion, and the public, who is prevented from voicing their own thoughts, feelings, and criticisms of London.
Mayor Weddle was impeached from office by the city council in September, when he was accused of misconduct, “including misuse of police department resources and signing a $5 million mortgage for the city without council approval,” but he was reinstated by a judge weeks later.
After the cops were cleared by a Laurel County grand jury on Feb. 20, Mayor Weddle told local media the city will now conduct an “administrative review of the shooting” to determine if any departmental policies were violated.
But the claim filed by Harless’ daughters has already determined the London Police Department has “a widespread and recurring pattern, practice, custom, and/or informal policy of violating the rights” of citizens to the point where it became “formal policy.”
“The adherence to these patterns, practices, customs, and/or informal policies led to, or was the moving force behind, the violation of Mr. Harless’ constitutional rights,” the claim says.
Meanwhile, Kentucky State Police, who are investigating the shooting, have refused to release the initial search warrant, which should clearly show the address to be 489 Vanzant Road, so there’s a chance it may not even exist.
And local residents are continuing their protests, demanding a federal investigation, since justice has not been served at the local or state level.
“This is just us continuing to remember Doug Harless, continuing to show up for Doug Harless and continuing to make sure that they know that we won’t forget — until there is justice, we are going to be here,” Burns, the main organizer of the protests, told local media after the grand jury’s decision.
Great Job Carlos Miller & the Team @ Atlanta Black Star for sharing this story.
