Mother of New York lawyer files lawsuit against NC police over his death
The mother of a man shot to death by a Pineville police officer sued him, another officer involved and the town on Tuesday.
Sgt. Adam Roberts and Officer Randall Down unnecessarily escalated their May 2024 run-in with Dennis Bodden “from a minor property offense to the use of deadly force” in about five minutes, the 165-page lawsuit said. As Bodden died, they did not tell dispatchers that he had been shot soon enough, it also said.
The Charlotte Observer petitioned for, obtained and published body camera footage of Bodden’s fatal run-in with Roberts and Down that summer.
After a caller reported Bodden shoplifting at a Food Lion, Roberts walked after him from the grocery store to an apartment complex, briefly wrestling with him in the road, getting bitten and Tasing him along the way. He pushed Bodden, then shot him after Bodden ran toward him and Down at the complex.
The lawsuit claimed Roberts, Down and the town are liable for wrongful death, excessive force, failure to intervene and constitutional violations.
Bodden was in the midst of a bipolar and schizophrenic episode, according to the lawsuit. His mother previously told the Observer that his mental health degraded in the COVID-19 pandemic.
District Attorney Spencer Merriweather declined to charge the officers but raised questions about the shooting and its circumstances.
“Dennis Bodden was a son, a lawyer, and a man who devoted his life to helping people who were struggling — especially those experiencing mental-health crises. On the day he was killed, he needed care, patience, and understanding, not a bullet,” family attorney Micheal Littlejohn said in a statement.
The Pineville Police Department declined to comment.
Roberts was out of jurisdiction, lawsuit says
The complaint said that the actions of Roberts, Down and the town were not a “single error in judgment” but a long chain of “reckless decisions that violated both law and policy.”
Roberts was off-duty and working as a security guard for the McMullen Creek Shopping Center when he confronted Bodden, according to the lawsuit, and crossed into Charlotte before they started wrestling in a road.
“Under those circumstances, Roberts possessed no greater authority than a private citizen to detain, arrest, or use force against another person,” the lawsuit said. “His only distinction from an ordinary citizen was his possession of a department-issued firearm, which he used without any lawful justification or jurisdictional authority.”
A police department policy expressly limits the authority of officers “to act outside the Town’s territorial jursidiction,” the lawsuit claimed. Another policy on the books says officers must put a duty to protect human life above “the apprehension of offenders and the protection of property,” the lawsuit said.
Also at issue in the lawsuit is when officers told dispatchers about Bodden’s injuries.
“Subject is on the ground and he is in cuffs. Both officers on scene are 10-4,” Down said into his police radio after the shooting, in the videos obtained by the Observer.
Someone over the radio asked in response, “Has anyone been hit with gunfire?”
The officers answered no. About a minute later, they said Bodden was shot.
“The exchange shows that the officers failed to acknowledge or report the gunshot injuries they had inflicted, even when dispatch requested confirmation,” the lawsuit said.
Other allegations in the lawsuit come from a Charlotte-Mecklenburg police investigation into the shooting and its lead-up:
- Roberts reportedly told CMPD investigators that he does not carry pepper spray or a baton because, “I just don’t like it,” and that he “deliberately” limited his force options, then used a Taser and a gun.
- He conceded to investigators, too, that he did not remember giving Bodden any commands before firing his Taser, and that he chose to escalate force when Bodden had no weapon, according to the lawsuit.
- Down admitted to CMPD that he “gave no verbal commands before deploying his taser — he simply fired it immediately after exiting his car,” when he came upon Roberts and Bodden. The lawsuit alleges that Down acknowleded that the situation did not rise to one that required deadly force.
- The lawsuit said Roberts acknowledged seeing behavior from Bodden that was consistent with a mental health crisis, including “disorientation, confusion, limited verbal responses, and difficulty processing commands.” The behavior “raised concerns about Mr. Bodden’s mental capacity,” he reportedly told CMPD.
Bodden passionate about helping others with mental health troubles
The lawsuit also gave new details about Bodden’s life before police killed him.
He was a Rutgers University Carr Scholar and Cardozo School of Law graduate, according to the lawsuit, and he was getting a master’s degree in social work at Columbia University when he died.
Also at the time he died, he had an active license to practice law in New York, and he was working as an attorney at KLDiscovery, the lawsuit said.
“Dennis Bodden was a staunch advocate for those battling mental health challenges,” it said.
As the Observer previously reported, he was an attorney for Mental Hygeine Legal Services from 2015 to 2019.
He later helped people get HIV services as a case manager, the lawsuit said.
“Mr. Bodden conducted monthly home visits with each project member and generated, reviewed, and implemented treatment plans in conjunction with other project team members,” the lawsuit said.
But the COVID-19 pandemic derailed his mind, and he “began experiencing his own mental health challenges,” the lawsuit said. “He was diagnosed with bipolar schizophrenia disorder.”
Eventually, he moved to North Carolina for warmer weather.
He volunteered as a counselor for the Crisis Text Line, the lawsuit said, and helped people wrestling with self-harm, suicidal thoughts, depression, bullying and LGBTQ issues.
“He aimed to help people by using empathic listening techniques, working to build a rapport and trust with texters to explore their issues, establish goals, and collaboratively develop a plan for the texters to stay safe,” the lawsuit said.
The night before he died, the lawsuit said, he worked the suicide hotline.
Ryan Oehrli covers criminal justice in the Charlotte region for The Charlotte Observer. His work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The Observer maintains full editorial control of its journalism.