COP HONORED BUT INDICTED

Virginia Police Officer Indicted in Shooting He Was Honored For

By Scott Daugherty

The Virginian-Pilot
November 2, 2018

PORTSMOUTH, Virginia — A Portsmouth, Va., police officer was honored with a medal of valor and named officer of the month for a call last year on which he shot an armed burglary suspect in the back running from a home.

The October 2017 shooting led prosecutors to secure an indictment Thursday against Officer Jeremy Durocher, charging him with aggravated malicious wounding and a related firearms crime.

But in the months that followed the incident, department commanders repeatedly indicated they saw nothing wrong with what happened. In December and again in June, they praised Durocher for shooting 18-year-old Deontrace Ward.

The commendation Officer Jeremy Durocher received from the Portsmouth Police Department when he was given a medal of valor after shooting a fleeing armed suspect – an act for which he has now been indicted.

“In recognition for your heroic response,” Police Chief Tonya Chapman wrote in the medal of valor commendation. “You took necessary steps to stop the threat that this suspect posed to the public and to your fellow officers at great personal risk.”

Earlier, Capt. Rich Springer wrote an email to the department’s sworn officers congratulating Durocher on being named the officer of the month for October 2017.

“His efforts have been recognized by his chain of command, as well as executive command staff,” Springer wrote Dec. 1. The email does not explain why Durocher – who was sworn in as a police officer less than six months before the shooting – was selected over 11 other nominees.

But when The Virginian-Pilot asked for information this week, a department spokesman declined to provide a copy of the nomination letter because it contained details of the shooting. Lt. B.K. Hall, the spokesman, declined to comment on the awards, as did Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Brandon Wrobleski.

An attorney for Ward said Friday he was not aware of the two honors bestowed on Durocher. “If I was a citizen of the city of Portsmouth, this information would make me fearful for my life,” S.W. Dawson said. “It encourages officers to shoot first and ask questions later.”

The president of the Portsmouth Fraternal Order of Police and Durocher’s attorney, however, said the awards showed prosecutors were wrong to seek charges against the officer. The medal of valor Officer Jeremy Durocher was awarded by the Portsmouth Police Department after shooting a fleeing armed suspect – an act for which he has now been indicted.

“The ones that know what is happening on the front lines recognized him for valor,” defense attorney Nicholas Renninger said, adding that Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales was second-guessing a split-second decision made by an officer doing his job.

“He absolutely deserved that award,” said Sgt. Matt Crutcher of the FOP. “The totality of the circumstances required he do what he did.” On Oct. 29, 2017, Durocher shot Ward as he ran from a burglary in the 1100 block of Tatem Ave.

In a video recorded by Durocher’s department-issued body camera, the officer yells, “He has a gun!” when he first sees Ward running from the home and later tells fellow officers the teen “waved” the gun at him. Police found a gun, but it was inside the bottom of Ward’s right pant leg.

Ward pleaded guilty in June to breaking into the home, stealing some jewelry and illegally possessing a firearm. He was sentenced to six years in prison. In exchange for his plea, the special prosecutor agreed to drop charges that Ward brandished his firearm or assaulted Durocher.