SPRINGFIELD — The family of a man who died after being hit by a Springfield police cruiser has filed a civil lawsuit against those they feel could have prevented his death.
Ben Crump, nationally renowned civil rights and personal injury attorney, along with other attorneys representing the family, announced the filing of the lawsuit.
In June 2021, Eric Cole was shot and lying in the roadway in the 1400 block of South Center Boulevard. He called dispatchers to tell them he was shot.
He later was flown to Miami Valley Hospital where he died from his injuries.
A final autopsy result revealed Cole died from blunt force trauma to the torso and his death was ruled an accident.
Springfield Police Department named Officer Amanda Rosales as the officer who hit Cole. She was never criminally charged.
In a release, attorneys representing the family said they believe the police department only told the truth about Cole’s cause of death after the official autopsy results were revealed.
“They believe that the only reason that Springfield police finally told the truth, finally came clean, is because the coroner told the truth that Eric Cole had been ran over by the SUV,” Crump said. “The family was at the hospital. The family was on the scene. The police didn’t tell them what happened.”
“They did not tell EMS officials that he had been ran over by a SUV,” Crump continued. “Can you imagine that SUV running over his body?”
The lawsuit also names Erin Reynolds and Mary Herge, two dispatchers, as defendants in the case.
The lawsuit alleges that both dispatchers recklessly failed to properly relay Cole’s location to officers responding to the scene, as well as to other dispatchers.
>> ‘They just hit me,’ Springfield shooting victim says in 911 call as police cruiser runs over him
“Eric Cole leaves behind three children who will never see their father again because of the action and inaction of Springfield Police officers and Clark County dispatchers. If these defendants had performed their jobs as if lives were at stake, Eric might be here today,” said Crump said in a release. “Instead, these individuals responded to Eric with reckless disregard for his life, which resulted in an SUV running him over –– information that was not communicated to EMS. Eric gasped for air and said the all-too-familiar and tragic words, ‘I can’t breathe,’ as life left his body.”
“We will get justice for Eric Cole,” Crump said.
A spokesperson with the Springfield Police Division confirmed with News Center 7 that Rosales is back on duty, but the department declined to comment on the filing of the lawsuit.
We have reached out to the Clark County Sheriff’s Office for a statement in response to the allegations in the lawsuit involving both dispatchers and are awaiting response. We are also working to learn the employment status of the two dispatchers.
We will continue updating this story as we learn more.
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