Reading Cop Pleads Not Guilty To Manslaughter Charge

READING, MA — A Reading police officer who shot and killed an unarmed man in 2018 has pleaded not guilty to a charge of manslaughter. Officer Erik Drauschke was indicted by a grand jury last month in the death of 43-year-old Alan Greenough. Drauschke went before a Middlesex Superior Court judge in Woburn Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Drauschke did not wait for backup to arrive before opening the door of Greenough's car, shooting Greenough twice as he rushed out of the car with his hands in his sweatshirt pocket, yelling, "Shoot me, shoot me!"

"Officer Drauschke is a terrific individual and highly regarded within the Reading Police Department," Drauschke's attorney, Peter Pasciucco, wrote in an email to Patch last month. "His actions in this particular situation were entirely consistent with his extensive training and the use of deadly force was warranted."

The 14-year veteran of the Reading Police Department was placed on unpaid administrative leave after the indictment was handed down. He had been on paid leave since the February 2018 shooting, making about $242,000 over 2 1/2 years, according to records obtained by MassLive.

See Also: Family: Shooting Of Reading Man 'Never Should Have Happened'

Reading Cop Indicted In Fatal 2018 Shooting

Drauschke was one of several officers searching for Greenough, who fled his apartment after officers responded to a report of a domestic assault on Feb. 3, 2018, the Middlesex District Attorney's office said. Drauschke was alone when he found Greenough and did not wait for backup before confronting him, prosecutors said.

Greenough had been accused of assaulting two other residents, as well as assaulting the same two people the previous night, police said.

Arriving officers found Greenough locked himself in his apartment. They pleaded with him to surrender to them peacefully, prosecutors said, but he became agitated, holding a 3-foot broken table leg in his hands as he yelled at them from a window.

Greenough fled through a back window of the apartment, the DA's office said. Drauschke then found a man fitting Greenough's description sitting in a parked car, authorities said.

"The car doors were closed and the vehicle was parked in a way that it could not have been able to be utilized to flee the scene," Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan's office said in a statement. "The defendant allegedly approached the vehicle alone and did not wait for assistance even though other police officers were in close proximity."

Prosecutors said Greenough did not attempt to flee or make any threatening gestures toward Drauschke, but the officer pulled his gun and ordered him out of the car.

Prosecutors said Greenough got out with his hands in his sweatshirt pocket and rushed at Drauschke, yelling, "Shoot me, shoot me!" Drauschke backed up and fired twice, hitting Greenough in the chest, the DA's office said. Greenough later died from his injuries.

Greenough was unarmed and police did not find any weapons during a search of the area, the DA's office said.