On Friday, December 14th, Republic Missouri has finally reached a settlement of $1.2 million with the family of a 48-year-old man who was shot and killed by a police officer in 2016. [1] In February of 2016, Sgt. John Tinsley shot at Destry Meikle after Meikle experienced a seizure and crashed into a garage.
Destry Meikle
Destry Meikle was a manager at a Walmart Supercenter in Springfield Missouri with no known criminal records. He experienced a seizure while driving in the spring of 2016 and crashed into a garage. A fire started under his car and Sgt. John Tinsley went to help Meikle, breaking the rear passenger window of the car.
What Happened There?
Tinsley then claims that Meikle put the car in reverse and knocked Tinsley to the ground. Tinsley then stood up and saw the car lunge at him again. Tinsley said that he was afraid for his life and he then shot three times into the vehicle. Meikle was shot but walked 150 yards to the ambulance that arrived and told them that he had experienced a seizure. Meikle was then brought to a hospital where he later died.
No Witnesses Around
There were no witnesses at the scene besides Sgt. John Tinsley and Destry Meikle, who is now deceased. Firefighters later determined the car was in reverse after the accident.
Meikle’s family wanted Tinsley to be charged with a crime, but Greene County Prosecutor, Dan Patterson, decided three months after the shooting that Tinsley would not face criminal charges.
The family still filed charges, claiming that Tinsley used “inappropriate force.”
$1.2 Million
The Associated Press reported that city spokesman Michael Landis had said that this was in the “best interest for taxpayers, the city and the victim’s family to put it behind us, move forward and avoid a long, drawn out costly trial.” [2]
The $1.2 million settlement makes it the largest for a police shooting case in recent Green County history. The second largest settlement for a police shooting in Greene County was when Springfield paid $700,000 to settle with a man that was shot by an officer who had mistakenly grabbed his gun instead of his Taser. [3]
Notes:
- ^“Missouri city to pay $1.2M to settle police shooting lawsuit.” Southern, 14 Dec. 2018, thesouthern.com/news/national/missouri-city-to-pay-m-to-settle-police-shooting-lawsuit/article_e7b56955-eab9-5b3b-9563-9c14008c5587.html. (go back ↩)
- ^“Missouri city to pay $1.2M to settle police shooting lawsuit.” Alton Telegraph, 14 Dec. 2018, www.thetelegraph.com/news/crime/article/Missouri-city-to-pay-1-2M-to-settle-police-13466572.php. (go back ↩)
- ^Keegan, Harrison. “Settlement in Republic police shooting case tops $1 million, attorney says.” Springfield News-Leader, 13 Dec. 2018, www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2018/12/13/settlement-republic-police-shooting-case-tops-1-million/2302689002. (go back ↩)
