February 24, 2023, 7:30 PMIn this image taken from Pueblo County Sheriffs police body camera provided by attorney Darold W. Killmer, Richard Ward sits in the backseat of a vehicle as he is questioned by Pueblo County sheriffs deputy Charles McWhorter on Feb. 22, 2022, in Pueblo West, an unincorporated community near the city of Pueblo, Colo.
Attorneys said that after his walk, he mistook a similar-looking SUV for his mother’s vehicle, opened the door and got inside. Ward apologized to the driver and then returned to his mother’s vehicle, according to the lawsuit. “It is really just an outrageous example of how policing these days is aggressive and militarized,” attorney Darold Killmer said.
The lawsuit claims the deputies could have ordered Ward to spit the pill out and step out of the vehicle, but they “consistently escalated the situation” and wrongly believed more force was warranted. McWhorter said that while he and Ward were wrestling on the ground, Ward head-butted him right before he shot him.