(Center Township Police Cruiser at the scene of the shooting in November 2022)
Story by Curtis Walsh – Beaver County Radio News Director. Published January 18, 2023 11:04 A.M.
(Beaver County, PA) In an exclusive interview on “Live Mic” with Mike Romigh, Attorney Joel Sansone shared new details regarding a federal lawsuit filed on behalf of the estate of Kenneth Vinyard, who died while helping a shooting victim at the Monaca Walmart in November. The lawsuit is filed against Center Township Police Officer John Hawk, who Sansone says performed a violent leg sweep on Vinyard, bringing him to the ground causing him to hit his head, suffer an immediate seizure and die shortly after. After the shooting initially happened, Sansone says Vinyard chased after the shooter, video recording to help identify him and his vehicle to police. Vinyard then proceeded to attempt to help the shooting victim before being confronted by off duty Center Township police officer John Hawk, who went on to aggressively take Vinyard to the ground. So far, the incident has been seen on a witness video recording, but Sansone says he is still waiting on other videos to surface. Walmart has a recording of the incident from surveillance cameras and Sansone has requested a copy of those videos, which he believes he will get soon. Center Township Police is said to have police bodycam video, but they have not agreed to release it. The lawsuit also questions the training standards of the Center Township Police Department, and Sansone says he believes there is a “lawlessness” in the department. He also alleges that this is not the first time Hawk has violated the rights of people and compared recent actions of the department to the “Wild West”. Beaver County District attorney David Lozier recused himself of the case due to being a conflict of interest, and the State Attorney General is now handling the case. Sansone says Hawk should be in jail and he will not stop until Vinyard gets justice. Sansone has also stated that the family of the man who was shot is thankful for the actions of Vinyard. We can expect to know more about the status of the case in roughly 60 days, and a bigger picture of results with the case should be known by the end of the year.
Photo of the scene in Monaca, November 2022 (Keith Walsh – Beaver County Radio):
File Photo of Kenneth Vinyard:
