Eight Months Later: Pima County Attorney explains delay in Remington case decision

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - There are growing concerns about an investigation that’s gone largely silent involving a deadly police shooting in Tucson.

The shocking shooting was caught on police body camera.

Then Tucson police officer Ryan Remington killed a shoplifting suspect in a motorized scooter.

That was nearly eight months ago.

Tucson police moved quickly to fire Remington.

He’s now appealing, but we still haven’t heard what Pima County Attorney Laura Conover plans to do with the case.

Some legal experts have said prosecutors are taking too long to make a decision.

Conover released a video statement back in December saying the body-cam video is jarring, but its the county attorney’s obligation to not rush a decision in this case.

Police say a worker told Remington that Richard Lee Richards had stolen a toolbox.

Video reveals Remington caught up with him asking for a receipt, then Richards pulled out a knife and started to enter the store. Remington fired nine rounds at Richards, killing him.

Now Conover has to decide if criminal charges are warranted.

Recently, Conover again said it’s under investigation and the rules are crystal clear that she cannot comment on it to preserve the integrity of their investigation.

“What I can say more helpfully more broadly is that, for example, the most recent federal case against a border patrol agent took 18 months before the incident was presented to grand jury and indicted an charges were actually filed. We are certainly hoping it won’t take that long to come to a resolution. We are working arduously at it. But other than that, it’s impossible to comment without breaking the rules,” she said.

KOLD also contacted Remington’s lawyer, Mike Storie, about the delay.

“At least the CA’s office is taking longer to review the case than the Mayor and Chief (Chris Magnus) who rushed to judgment,” he replied.

Conover said months ago she convened a critical incident review group to examine the case and the PCAO told us that the group has met.

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