Montgomery County Council President Tom Hucker said he wants Maryland Attorney General Brian Frosh to investigate the death of a Gaithersburg man killed by the police last month. But Frosh, and his office, replied that he can’t.
Hucker said Frosh’s office, which is mandated under new legislation to investigate fatalities involving police, should take on the investigation into the death of Ryan LeRoux, 21, who was shot in his car by Montgomery County police in a McDonald’s parking lot July 16.
Under a mutual agreement with Howard County that began in 2015 and was formalized in 2019, when officers from Montgomery County shoot and kill someone, the Howard County’s State’s Attorney’s Office handles the investigation.
But Hucker said in a briefing Monday, “No case yet that has been referred to the Howard County SAO has resulted in a finding against a police officer.”
The investigation into LeRoux’s death is the sixth under that agreement.
“Regardless of facts of any of those cases,” Hucker said, “it would go a long way toward restoring public confidence in the independence of the investigation by referring this to the Attorney General’s Office.”
But Raquel Coombs, in Frosh’s office, said the Maryland Police Accountability Act of 2021, which was passed in the last General Assembly session in Annapolis, doesn’t go into effect until Oct. 1.
“Until then, the responsibility for investigating those cases remains with the State’s Attorney in that jurisdiction,” she said.
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Frosh wrote to Hucker on Tuesday, saying “our office does not have the authority to undertake an investigation for incidents occurring prior to the effective date” of the law.
LeRoux was shot inside his SUV after he pulled up to a McDonald’s drive-thru in Gaithersburg and reportedly refused to pay for his order. He also refused to move his car from the drive-thru window, and police were initially called to handle a case of trespassing.
Police said LeRoux had a loaded gun in his lap, and had refused to comply with their orders to raise his hands and unlock one of the doors of his SUV. Images from police body-worn cameras showed movement in the car before police opened fire.
The four officers involved were placed on administrative leave. The officers are white; LeRoux was Black.
LeRoux’s parents have said more could have been done to de-escalate the situation.
