DETROIT – The family of 15-year-old Damon Grimes is suing Michigan State Police police for $50 million after the teen was killed in a police pursuit.
In August, Grimes was killed while riding his ATV on Detroit's east side. State police were in pursuit when Grimes crashed into a pickup truck and died.
"I miss him every day. He was only 15. He had his life ahead of him," said Monique Grimes, the boy's mother.
Trooper Mark Bessner was riding as a passenger in one of the patrol cars. Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said he fired his Taser out of the vehicle's window, striking Grimes just before the crash. Bessner was suspended for breaking protocol by firing a weapon out of a moving vehicle. He resigned in September.
Now he faces second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter charges. He will be arraigned on those charges Thursday morning in Detroit.
"First of all I want to apologize on behalf of my department, the Michigan State Police, to the Grimes family and what they've been through. And even though I can sit here and apologize and someone can be charged today for this crime, that boy is never going back to his family," said Lt. Michael Shaw.
That's an apology the family does not accept. They want the trooper who was driving the patrol car to be charged, too.
"If the driver sees the other officer taking out the Taser, taking time to aim, taking time to discharge the probes, that's plenty of time for that office to have hit the brake," said attorney Jeff Harrington, of Fieger Law.
The Grimes said they still support police officers.
"I don't blame all of them for one bad apple. It's just a better decision that they need to take from something that I have to deal, the pain I have to go through every day. But I'm not mad at anybody," said Monique Grimes.
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