Brewer Police Chief Jason Moffitt acted in self-defense when he fatally shot a robbery suspect in March who was on his hands and knees, Maine’s attorney general said.
Moffitt fatally shot Barry Chick Jr., 39, on March 22 on Green Point Road near the city’s public works building. Chick allegedly attempted to rob the Brewer Walmart and escaped from staff who tried to detain him. He fled through the woods, leading to a police chase, Brewer police said previously.
It was reasonable for Moffitt to believe Chick posed an “imminent threat of serious bodily injury or death to himself and others,” a report from the Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey released Friday said.
The results of the investigation were sent to Brewer City Manager Eric Glidden on Tuesday. The results were made public Friday.
The Maine attorney general’s office conducts an investigation and legal review when police shoot someone. Since beginning investigations in 1990, it has never found a police officer to be unjustified in a shooting.
There is no video footage of the moment of the shooting, Jonathan Bolton, public access officer for the Maine attorney’s general office, said previously.
Moffitt was at the police station and heard the radio traffic and went to the area to assist in the search, and found Chick near the city’s public works building, according to the report.
Moffitt drew his gun and told Chick to get on the ground. Chick’s hands were empty.
Chick got onto his hands and knees, the report said. Chick then moved his arm up and to his waistband and Moffitt told investigators he believed Chick was reaching for a gun.
Moffitt told investigators he repeatedly told Chick, “Don’t do it.”
Moffitt saw Chick with a “flat black object” that Moffitt believed was a slide of a gun and fired one shot. The shot “stopped Mr. Chick,” the report said.
Moffitt then started to provide first aid and saw a black wallet on the ground near Chick, the report said. Emergency medical services arrived and Chick died at the scene.
Chick died from one gunshot wound to the neck, the medical examiner’s office said. He had amphetamines, methamphetamines and fentanyl in his system, the report said.
Moffitt said he confronted Chick “because of the civilian workers outside the Public Works facility and the report that Mr. Chick had previously drawn a firearm at Walmart,” the report said.
Based on the dispatch reports and third-party callers, Moffitt had reason to believe the person he found at the Brewer Public Works building was Chick, the AG’s report found. Moffitt said he believed Chick was going to shoot him and he was concerned for people in the area, the report said.
Those facts mean the shooting was in self-defense, the report found.
Moffitt, who became the public safety director in 2016, was placed on administrative leave following the shooting, which is standard procedure.
He returned to work May 15 after an internal review by Brewer police, as well as an external review by an incident review team. The reviews found no evidence of wrongdoing or policy infractions that would lead to Moffitt remaining on leave, Deputy Chief Christopher Martin said previously.
