When a female Safeway employee discovered Andre Thompson and Bryson Chaplin taking alcohol at the Washington location, the brothers threw the case of beer at her, forcing her to contact the cops. Within minutes, Olympia Police Officer Ryan Donald had apprehended the two as they walked down a neighboring road. As he told them to halt, Thompson and Chaplin disregarded him and ran into the woods.
Other cops were able to coax the two out of the woods and back towards Officer Donald. The males, though, refused to comply once again, refusing to go down on the ground. Instead, they attacked the police, with Thompson trying to tackle him while Chaplin hoisted a skateboard above his head and charged him.
Officer Donald said he was concerned Chaplin would hit him over the head with a board as Thompson attempted to seize his weapon. As a result, he opened fire, hitting Thompson in the stomach and Chaplin in the back, crippling the latter forever.
After the incident, the boys’ lawyer, Sunni Ko, filed a lawsuit on their behalf, alleging that Officer Donald used excessive force while arresting them. However, requesting a jury trial in order to get a $25 million award was not the best option.
A Tacoma jury decided that Thompson and Chaplin should not get any of the $25 million in compensation that they had asked for. Officer Donald was found not to have used excessive force and to have been justified in shooting the brothers by the jury, clearing him of all claims. The jury also rejected arguments that the city failed to properly educate its police force.
After their arrest, the duo was convicted of third-degree assault, with Chaplin being convicted of fourth-degree assault for hitting the female employee. Chaplin was sentenced to slightly over ten months in prison, while Thompson got just two months.
The boys tried to persuade the jury that their behavior did not justify Officer Ryan’s firing his service weapon. In actuality, Thompson claimed that he was shot while ministering to his wounded brother, which the jury rejected.
While the duo sought to persuade the jury of their bodily disabilities, including the fact that Chaplin is now wheelchair-bound and needs 24-hour care, their case fell flat. Similarly, the jury dismissed Thomspon’s argument that he suffered significant bodily and mental damage as a result of being shot in the stomach as evidence that Officer Donald used excessive force.
Upon their release, the brothers lobbied the community against Officer Donald and the police department, leading supporters to assume that the shooting was disproportionate and racially motivated. Marches, demonstrations, and fundraisers were held in support of the pair’s bogus lawsuit.
The two must now face the repercussions of their actions to steal and ignore a police officer’s demands. If only the two had cooperated, they would have avoided harm.
