PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Jurors deliberated for more than an hour Monday on whether former Philadelphia police officer Eric Ruch is guilty of third-degree murder in the shooting death of an unarmed Black man.
The defendant took the stand Monday morning. He said it was dark that night in December 2017, and he was yelling at 25-year-old Dennis Plowden to put both hands up moments before he fired the bullet that killed him.
Ruch gave a detailed account of what led up to that moment. He said he and his partner tried to pull Plowden over near 16th Street and Nedro Avenue in Ogontz for driving a car wanted in connection to a homicide. They were supposed to consider the occupants “armed and dangerous,” he said, because of a patrol alert they received from homicide detectives.
Ruch said Plowden sped away and “squished” another officer, slightly injuring him, and then ran through a red light and stop sign at more than 70 mph before crashing into a fence post.
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Tearful at times, Ruch said he got out of his car, looked toward a mangled mess of cars on the side, but said he was unable to take cover there before he heard officers scream to him that the suspect was to his right.
Ruch said he found himself face to face with Plowden. He said Plowden made a swift movement with his right hand and put it into his front pocket, and that’s when he fired the shot. Ruch told jurors “the hand you don’t see is the one that will hurt you,” and said he thought of officer John Pawlowki, who was shot and killed in a similar way in 2009.
Prosecutors pointed out that all of the officers who had similar stories are friends with Ruch. One is related by marriage, and they peppered him with questions about why he didn’t radio back to headquarters.
After Ruch took the stand, attorneys on both sides made their closing arguments. The jury had questions about testimony from police officers, but the judge told them to go with their own memories. They said they wanted to see crime scene photos and video, which they will be able to do on Tuesday.