No Charges For Putnam Deputies Who Shot Bleeding Woman's Kidnapper

PUTNAM COUNTY, NY — New York Attorney General Letitia James’ Office of Special Investigation, which is not pressing charges against Putnam Sheriff's deputies involved in the death of Christopher Torres Jan. 10, released its report Friday.

State law requires issuance of a public report when OSI does not press charges.

That morning, officers from a local police department and deputies from the Putnam County Sheriff's Office responded to a 911 call reporting a kidnapping in the town of Southeast.

Body camera videos, dashboard camera videos, home security videos, radio transmissions and interviews with the victim, her family and the officers helped the AG's investigators piece the story together.

According to the report, which calls the victim "A" — "On January 10, 2023, at 9:32 am home security video from A’s house shows Mr. Torres grabbing and shoving A out the door. Blood covered A’s face and hands. Mr. Torres told A to get in the car. A appeared to be weeping. Mr. Torres opened the door to a gray Acura and pushed A into the front passenger seat with his right hand as he held a knife in his left hand. At 9:33 am Mr. Torres drove away.

"The home security video shows that at 9:39 am A’s mother, E, and brother, R, arrived at A’s house. R walked up to the house and said there was blood everywhere. At 9:40 am R left the house as E called 911."

On the 911 call, the mother explained that she had been on the phone with her daughter when the victim began to scream and ask for help because her ex-boyfriend, against whom she had an order of protection, was in the house.

Then police received a second 911 call, OSI reported. It came from a woman reporting that her mother had seen a man driving an Acura, with a license plate that included the numbers 662, on Terry Hill Road, with a woman passenger who was bleeding and asking for help.

The sheriff's deputies began thinking of secluded places someone might go. They converged on Pugsley Road.

"Deputy Sheriff Shane Haley’s BWC captured a radio transmission at 10:06 am from Senior Investigator Randel Hill, asking the operator if the car they were searching for was a light gray Acura, as he saw a light gray Acura on Fields Corner and could pursue it if another officer could back him up," the report said.

"Dep. Haley drove towards Pugsley Road. A radio transmission directed marked cars to go ahead, and Dep. Haley’s dashcam showed that he drove around an unmarked car and stopped in front of Mr. Torres, who was kneeling over A on the ground and stabbing her."

They shouted at him to stop and he lifted her head to slit her throat. As he slashed her face they shot him. One officer took charge of her while the others covered Torres, recovered the knife, and began CPR.

The AG's investigators also reviewed A’s medical records. She was admitted to the hospital as a Level 1 trauma victim. She was treated for and eventually had multiple surgeries for 11 stab
wounds: two to the face, one to each hand, one to the left deltoid, one to the right anterior
chest, four to the left anterior chest and one to the right medial upper arm.

She told police that she filed for the order of protection Jan. 4. She called police Jan. 9 to report he had contacted her. On Jan. 10 she drove their daughter to school and came home to find him hiding in the shower. She said he told her he was going to slit her throat and then his so he could bleed out on top of her.

Under New York’s justification law, a person may use deadly physical force to defend against the imminent use of deadly physical force by another person. When the defense of justification is raised at trial, the prosecution must disprove justification beyond a reasonable doubt, the AG's office said.

In this case, Torres was actively harming another person with a knife and ignoring requests to stop, the AG's office said. Under these circumstances, given the law and the evidence, a prosecutor would not be able to disprove beyond a reasonable doubt at trial that the deputies involved were justified in their actions, and OSI determined that criminal charges could not be warranted.

SEE:

• NY AG's Office Opens Probe Into Officer-Involved Shooting In Southeast
• State Police ID Man Killed By Deputies Responding To Abduction Report
  
• Man Wielding Knife Killed By Officer In Southeast: Police