May 15--The husband of the local housewife shot dead Feb. 9 by a Culpeper policeman is seeking $5.35 million in a wrongful death lawsuit.
Gary D. Cook filed the civil suit Friday in Culpeper County Circuit Court naming Daniel W. Harmon-Wright, a.k.a. Daniel Sullivan, as the officer who killed his 54-year-old wife on a sunny Thursday morning downtown.
The lawsuit demands judgment against Harmon-Wright, a five-year veteran of the Culpeper PD, in the amount of $5 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 punitive damages.
No criminal charges have yet been filed in the matter that remains an ongoing investigation of the Virginia State Police.
Details alleged in the civil suit present a stark contradiction to scant particulars provided by the VSP thus far into the incident of more than 13 weeks ago.
Friday's civil suit is the first time Daniel Harmon-Wright was officially named as the Culpeper Police officer involved in the Feb. 9 shooting of Patricia Cook.
A Fredericksburg news outlet published his name last month, citing unnamed sources, but officials otherwise have refused to release his identity saying it is against policy.
Civil suit details
At about 10 a.m. on Feb. 9, the officer responded to a report of a suspicious person in the parking lot of a parochial school parking lot on North East Street, where Harmon-Wright encountered Mrs. Cook sitting in her Jeep Wrangler, according to the civil suit, which also said the flashing lights on his car were never activated.
The lawsuit claims, "Harmon-Wright approached Mrs. Cook and spoke to her in an aggressive and demanding manner," and that she was unarmed. As Cook began manually rolling up her car window, the officer continued to speak in a loud and argumentative manner, the suit said.
"Defendant Harmon-Wright threatened to shoot Mrs. Cook if she did not stop rolling up her car window and do as he demanded," the suit said. "Defendant Harmon-Wright threatened Mrs. Cook with his gun in an attempt to coerce her into complying with his demands."
As Cook attempted to drive away, "Harmon-Wright shot her at close range and continued firing at her as she attempted to depart," the suit says.
Further, "Contrary to what has been claimed and reported, Defendant Harmon-Wright did not have his hand or arm trapped inside the car window of Mrs. Cook's Jeep at any time during this incident. In addition, (he) was not dragged by Mrs. Cook's vehicle," and suffered no injuries as a result of the morning's deadly incident.
State police: officer was dragged
Assertions in the civil suit that Harmon-Wright's hand was never trapped in the car window and that he not being dragged differ greatly from one of the only Virginia State Police statements on the case -- released the day after the shooting.
According to the Feb. 10 VSP release, the officer, while attempting to retrieve Mrs. Cook's ID, got his arm trapped when she "suddenly closed" the driver's side window "and started driving away dragging the officer alongside."
At the scene within an hour after the shooting, eyewitness Kris Buchele told the Star-Exponent the officer's arm was in the window as Cook started to "roll it up," but that it was never trapped and the police officer was not being dragged.
"The officer yelled 'stop, stop or I'm going to shoot,'" Buchele said.
According to the civil suit filed Friday by Mr. Cook, Harmon-Wright shot his wife multiple times in the head and upper body, causing her to crash into a telephone pole a few blocks away.
According to Buchele and the civil suit, the officer shot the woman at point blank range and continued shooting as he attempted to drive away. Others in the area reported hearing five or six gunshots fired from the department-issue .40-caliber Glock.
The civil suit claims, "When Defendant Harmon-Wright attempted to bully and coerce Mrs. Cook into complying with his commands by raising his voice and threatening to shoot her, she was lawfully entitled to depart unharmed and unhindered under the circumstances ..."
Mrs. Cook was pronounced dead at the scene, two days after her 54th birthday.
More civil suit details
The suit in her death claims Harmon-Wright violated his training and the policies and procedures of the Culpeper PD regarding the use of deadly force by a uniformed officer.
"In Virginia, a police officer has no right to inflict serious bodily harm on a person who is simply fleeing arrest for a misdemeanor, much less a person who has committed no crime and who is simply exercising her right to decline to speak with a police officer," the suit says, claiming deliberate and cruel use of excessive force by Harmon-Wright against Mrs. Cook.
The suit, in two counts, alleges negligence against the officer in that he displayed "an utter disregard of caution amounting to a complete neglect of the safety of another person" and "acted with such indifference that his conduct constituted gross negligence."
The second count claims battery upon Mrs. Cook seeking monetary damages for the plaintiff, Gary Cook, and Mrs. Cook's mother for severe mental anguish, sorrow and the loss of the solace, society, companionship, comfort, guidance and advice of Pat Cook as well as the loss of her company, counsel, love, services, protection, care and assistance.
The suit demands a trial by jury.
Why now?
Mr. and Mrs. Cook were married for nearly eight years, relocating to Culpeper around the time of their wedding to be closer to his job with the federal government. A retired cosmetologist active in the children's ministry at Culpeper United Methodist Church, Mrs. Cook was originally from Alton, Illinois.
Gary Cook expressed frustration and disbelief in the days after his wife's death, saying he spoke to her early that morning before he left for work.
"She had mentioned while she was laying there in bed she was going to do some shopping, pick up some cat treats -- that was it," Mr. Cook told the Star-Exponent. He said his wife was not on any medication and had never had any kind of confrontation with police.
Three months after the tragic incident, Gary Cook was tired of waiting for answers, according to his attorney J. Gregory Webb with the Charlottesville firm of Michie Hamlett.
"Mr. Cook filed the suit at this time because he is frustrated with the pace of the criminal investigation to date," he said. "Further, he wants to move this process along and discover why his wife, who was unarmed, was intentionally shot by this police officer."
Webb said his client was hopeful that investigators and the special prosecutor "would have been more open with what has occurred to date."
"Because there are no assurances as to what may occur in the criminal investigation, (Mr. Cook) decided to pursue his constitutional and statutory rights for the wrongful death of his wife through the civil law process," Webb said.
No comments
VSP Spokeswoman Corrine Geller offered no new information on the case Monday, saying it remained an ongoing investigation.
Last month, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, Fauquier County Commonwealth's Attorney James P. Fisher, requested a special grand jury investigate matter. Fisher said at the time he was hopeful the grand jury and evidentiary reviews would be complete by the end of June.
Culpeper Town spokesman Wally Bunker, asked Monday for a comment about the civil suit, declined saying, "We do not have anything to say about the allegations made in the complaint," since the town is not party to the suit.
He also would not comment on legal representation for the officer involved or his identity.
About Harmon-Wright
According to court documents, Daniel Harmon-Wright changed his name from Daniel Sullivan in July 2010, at the time listing his place of residence as Bristow.
In the order for change of name, Harmon-Wright said he wanted to change his name "to better reflect (his) genealogy ... because Sullivan is an adopted name." Harmon-Wright said his stepfather, Mark Sullivan, adopted him and later divorced his mother. The police officer, according to court documents, said he no longer wanted the last name Sullivan, but Harmon-Wright, "which better reflects (my) bloodline."
The same year Harmon-Wright changed his name he received a speed enforcement award from Culpeper Police Chief Chris Jenkins for exceptional service in support of highway safety.
Last month, Culpeper resident James Jennings, a retired elementary school teacher and former network engineer at S.W.I.F.T., launched a Facebook page "Justice for Patricia Cook." He also started an online petition at change.org requesting Fisher file criminal charges against the officer who killed her.
As of Monday afternoon, the petition had 623 signatures.
Star-Exponent reporter Rhonda Simmons contributed to this report.
Copyright 2012 - Culpeper Star-Exponent, Va.
