09/16/2008

By JOE KAFKA  / Associated Press

A South Dakota Highway Patrol trooper who killed a man after a chase near Harrold in October is being sued by the man's fiancee.

Trooper Ryan Lantz shot Anthony LaRocco when LaRocco aimed a gun at short range at officers. Although a pellet gun, it closely resembled a .380-caliber semiautomatic pistol.

Lantz was later cleared of wrongdoing in the shooting.

Gerry Ogle, who had two children with LaRocco, alleges in her lawsuit that Lantz violated Larocco's constitutional rights by using excessive force to subdue him.

Ogle, of Washburn, Mo., wants a jury trial and seeks unspecified damages for the suffering and loss of LaRocco, as well as medical and funeral expenses and loss of future income.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Sioux Falls.

The lawman killed LaRocco after a highway chase that ended on foot in a farm field after the man threatened to shoot himself and other people with a 9-millimeter handgun.

An autopsy revealed that LaRocco's blood-alcohol content was 0.293 percent, nearly four times the legal limit for drunken driving. He was shot once in the chest with a shotgun at a distance of 26 yards.

The investigative report indicates LaRocco refused repeated demands to drop his weapon. He was shot after he gripped the gun with two hands, crouched down, and aimed the gun at Lantz and Hughes County Deputy Sheriff Bob Duncan.

The report concluded the trooper followed Highway Patrol policy on the use of deadly force.

Attorney General Larry Long said it was clear that LaRocco provoked the trooper into shooting him.

Ogle and her children were living with LaRocco near Harrold when the incident took place Oct. 20.

LaRocco had a history of mental problems, his fiancee states in the lawsuit. Ogle said she and her father were near the field where LaRocco was shot. It was dark, and he was illuminated by police spotlights and headlights, she said.

Ogle said she told officers that LaRocco's weapon was a pellet gun, and the officers called for reinforcements to bring a non-lethal weapon to subdue him.

Lantz was aware LaRocco had a history of mental problems and did nothing to defuse the situation, Ogle said.

"When the non-lethal weapon was within a few minutes of being brought into the field in which Anthony was standing, (Lantz) shot and killed Anthony," the lawsuit states.

"A reasonable officer ... would not have used deadly force against Anthony LaRocco and would have understood that the use of deadly force in those circumstances was excessive and violated Anthony's Fourth Amendment rights," it continues.

The lawsuit alleges a wrongful death claim and argues LaRocco's death abridged the constitutional rights of his children by depriving them of a continued relationship with their father.

People sued in federal courts generally have a month to provide initial replies to the allegations.