Roanoke City Commonwealth's Attorney Donald S. Caldwell has determined criminal charges are not appropriate against police in the case of a man

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Caldwell made the determination after receiving findings from the Virginia State Police investigation into the death of Chase Austin, who died after being shot by Officer Martinez with the Roanoke Police Department October 16, 2019.

Caldwell said to support a criminal charge, "the evidence must show either (1) the presence of malice on behalf of the person involved or (2) conduct that exhibits gross, reckless disregard for the life or safety of others, which is criminal negligence." He says he found neither.

Caldwell said Virginia State Police interviewed 23 witnesses who had some connection to the shooting, including Officer Martinez. Those statements, combined with video footage from several area businesses, corroborate Caldwell's summary of what took place (see attached pdf).

Caldwell says It should be noted Officer Martinez was wearing a department-issued body camera at the time of the shooting. It had been activated for a traffic stop immediately before he was called to the scene that led to the shooting, but it was not turned off at the end of that traffic stop and it continued to record. Consequently, Caldwell says, Martinez accidentally turned off his camera when he thought he was turning it on. That's why, he says, there is no body camera footage of his encounter with Austin.

Caldwell says he has reviewed written police reports, photographs of the scene, video surveillance recordings, witness statements and forensic reports, and visited the scene of the shooting. He says he reviewed the official autopsy report, including Austin's toxicology report, and has met with Austin's family to discuss the findings of the investigation.

Caldwell says, "Based upon the facts available to me at this time, I am of the opinion that Mr. Austin’s actions placed Officer Martinez in a position where he reasonably believed that he and others were in immediate, imminent danger of death or serious bodily injury. Whatever his motivation, Mr. Austin introduced the element of deadly force into what was otherwise a relatively benign situation."

Caldwell continues, "By pulling a gun on Officer Martinez and then fleeing while armed towards a populated area in broad daylight, Mr. Austin effectively expanded the scope of the threat to the public at large. Officer Martinez has an obligation to protect the general public from threats such as the one presented by Mr. Austin. Therefore, I am of the opinion that, under the law of Virginia, Officer Martinez was legally justified in the use of deadly force to protect his own life as well as the lives of others in this situation. Thus, criminal charges are not appropriate under these circumstances, and none will be pursued."

Caldwell says this is how the shooting played out:

Officer Martinez responded to a trespassing call at the Krispy Kreme store on Hershberger Road, parking his patrol car and walking toward the store.

Caldwell says as the officer entered the store, he encountered a man inside the doorway. Based upon information disseminated at that day's morning police lineup, he determined the man was Chase Austin, due to the presence of two distinctive upper arm marijuana leaf tattoos. He knew Austin was wanted on a number of felony and misdemeanor warrants and tried to take him into custody.

Caldwell says that led to a struggle between the two, in which Austin pulled what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol and pointed it at Martinez. Martinez then released his grip on Austin and retreated inside the store, at which time Austin ran north toward the Lowes/Kroger parking lot. Officer Martinez pulled his handgun from his holster and ran after Austin.

Caldwell says Martinez yelled at Austin to stop and show his hands, but Austin continued to run into the K&W parking lot, which is when he turned toward the officer. Martinez, seeing Austin still had a gun, fired three rounds at Austin; none of them hit him.

Austin ran toward a car wash under construction between Krispy Kreme and the Lowes parking lot. The officer continued to chase and order him to stop. Austin ran through the car wash to other side closer to the Lowes parking lot. Caldwell says at that point, Austin again turned in the direction of the officer, who fired three more rounds, causing Austin to fall to the ground. While on the ground, Austin rolled to face the officer, who fired one more shot.

Austin was taken by paramedics to a hospital, where he was taken into surgery, but pronounced dead that afternoon.

Caldwell says on the ground beside where Austin fell was a loaded Ruger .22 caliber handgun with a round in the chamber and an additional ten rounds in the magazine. The gun had been reported stolen two weeks earlier in Roanoke City. Several live .22 caliber cartridges were also found in Austin’s backpack.

Also found in his backpack, according to Caldwell, was a small leather bag that contained three plastic bags, each containing substance that tested positive by the Department of Forensic Science as methamphetamine. Also found was a bag of pills that would test positive for Alprazolam, a schedule IV controlled substance. Finally, a glass smoking device was found with burn marks that would be consistent with smoking meth.

An autopsy revealed Austin had been hit by four bullets. Also, a sample of Austins’s blood revealed he had a level of methamphetamine at 0.52 per mg/L. The presumptive level of intoxication for methamphetamine is 0.10 per mg/L, indicating he was under the influence of more than five times the presumptive level for methamphetamine intoxication.

Caldwell says someone with that level of methamphetamine intoxication "would act more erratically, in an agitated manner and their emotions would be more exaggerated."

There was also a low level of marijuana in his system.