A wrongful death lawsuit filed this week in Jasper County Circuit Court alleges a veteran Webb City police officer accidentally tased himself, then shot and killed an unarmed man.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of the two children of Aler Escobar, 36, who was shot and killed by Officer Travis Osterman August 5, 2021 during an altercation with Webb City Police, according to the petition. Because of a new Missouri law that went into effect August 28, 2023, Escobar's name is redacted in the petition, but he is the only person who was shot and killed by Webb City Police that day.
In addition to Osterman, the city of Webb City is listed as a defendant.
According to the petition, Osterman was dispatched to 818 East Fountain Road to investigate a possible incident of illegal dumping, a misdemeanor.
When he arrived, Osterman saw people in a truck who appeared to be connecting a trailer to the truck, the petition said.During the questioning, Osterman was told that Escobar's brother was the owner of the property and that Escobar had permission to dump construction materials on the property.
Osterman demanded that Escobar show identification, according to the petition. Because he had permission to use the truck and dump materials on the property, Escobar did not believe he was required to show identification.
As the conversation continued "and Officer Osterman began to become more aggressive," Escobar believed he was going to be arrested and did not have a good command of the English language, Escobar phoned his brother to come and interpret, the petition said.
Before the brother arrived, "Osterman began attempting to handcuff {Escobar}. Another officer attempted to help Osterman.
At that point, the brother arrived and attempted to help Escobar. Osterman fell to the ground, attempted to use his taser "and in the process Officer Osterman shocked himself. Officer Osterman then withdrew his service weapon and shot {Escobar}."
Escobar was "unarmed and posed no significant threat of death or serious injury to Officer Osterman."
The Webb City Police Department issued the following news release August 10, 2021:
-Resisting a Lawful Detention (felony);
-Two counts of Assaulting of a Police Officer.
Maqueir Alincer Escobar-Velasquez is being held in the Jasper County Jail on a $100,000 cash only bond.
The second suspect, Aler Escobar (a 36-year old Hispanic male from Webb City, Missouri), who was transported by emergency medical services with a gunshot wound the night of the incident succumbed to his injuries.
Four other subjects who were detained at the incident have been interviewed and released without any charges at this time.
The two responding officers who were injured in the incident are currently recovering from injuries sustained in the altercation and have been placed on administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation by the Missouri State Highway Patrol - Division of Drug & Crime Control.
This investigation is ongoing.
Jasper County Circuit Court online records indicate the case against Maquier Alincer Escobar-Velasquez has not been resolved, but no preliminary hearing has been held and the last hearing was held April 21, 2022.
Escobar's children are represented by Joplin attorney William Fleischaker of Ozark Law Center in Joplin.
13 comments:
Let's see...moved to Federal Court and dismissed?
I hope that it is not dismissed.
I hope that the case is not dismissed.
Yeah tyrants will get away with it, the same way the K-9 dogs have been killed in hot cars. But if us citizens did it it the K-9 would become an officer and got straight to jail.
Tyrants need to be fired prosecuted and tarred and feathered , Good cops continue doing the great job you’re always doing.
All he had to do was cooperate and the situation would have never escalated. When a law enforcement officer says do something, just follow orders.
It’s not a suggestion, it’s not a piece of advice, it’s an officer of the law and their job is to protect and serve. If they ask for your identification, provide it. If they ask you to shut off your vehicle, do it. If they tell you to shut up, do it.
It’s too bad Missouri law enforcement isn’t more like the Arkansas State Police. They don’t mess around, just watch YouTube and see what happens when criminals FAFO.
That's a Reno 911! level tragic, careless mistake.
Careless mistake that lead to a man dead
I'm sorry, but MOST cops escalate any given situation, due to them thinking they are the law. Police should have a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, and as many years of de-escalation training and non-lethal force training. This would weed out bullies. And saying he should have complied is bullshit too many times we've seen on social media that even when people comply, they get shot, mostly people of color. It's alarming how many people in law-enforcement don't even understand the laws of our state or the constitution.
Ladies and gentlemen, Tim here is a glowing example of a generation raised on entitlement and believing he is more important than anyone else, he is above the law and he will absolutely refuse to cooperate with any law enforcement agency because “he said so.”
Please Tim, take a drive an hour south of Joplin, break the law and then proceed to run from them. Look forward to seeing how you handle it when video hits YouTube.
Anyone question why the lawyer is an elderly small town liberal instead of a Ben Crump type? Why not a civil rights case in federal court? It is a BS money grab and nothing else.
Let's see the racist officers go to prison they had no rights to be there.. the defendants had every right and document to be there..
I had a minimal acquaintance with Aler Escobar and his family, but my son-in-law was a close friend and in fact was one of the witnesses arrested on the scene of the shooting. One element of this story that has been confused in the media is that the brother who was killer (Aler) was not the one who was being investigated for possible littering, that was Maquier. He had called his brother Aler, who was the property owner, to come and translate for him.
So the Webb City Police actually killed the property owner not even their original suspect. Oh and the other "suspects" arrested and released were my son-in-law, his father and Alers' wife who had all arrived with Aler and saw him die. I would call their arrest "adding insult to injury", or possibly "witness intimidation".
11:17 "Programming only shows me people of color getting shot, they never push agendas or lie about circumstances, therefor I will regurgitate this line over and over to people on the internet."
I think both of you need to meet somewhere in the middle. Yes there is a minority of bad cops out there that tend to escalate things further than necessary, there's accidents that lead to wrongful deaths, but there's also steps that citizens can take in order to avoid wrongful deaths, and that is complying with the police whether you feel that they are in the right or not. If they are not in the right you can take it up afterwards with the court, present your evidence. You don't have to be a boot licker to understand that resisting arrest could end with you in the hospital or the graveyard.
I suggest watching several videos from Active Self Protection on youtube, familiarize yourself with the reality of what cops have to deal with day in and day out. The host always call out both the good and the bad. You might not agree with the host, I don't always agree in every single case, but watching the interactions alone will change your perspective on things, especially if you have an ACAB mindset.
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