MONAKA, Pennsylvania (KDKA) – The lawyer for a man who was shoved to death by an off-duty police officer is summoning the Pennsylvania Attorney General.
Kenneth Vineyard’s family attorney, Joel Sanson, said: A policeman shoves and kills Vineyard Last November, I was trying to help a shooting victim in a Monaca Walmart parking lot.
The victim’s estate was awarded nearly $1 million in a civil lawsuit settlement, but the family’s attorney said police officers should also be criminally charged.
On Monday, Sansone blamed the attorney general’s office, which is currently handling the case. He called on the department to bring criminal charges against off-duty police officer John Hawke. He is accused of knocking Mr. Vineyard to the ground and hitting him on the head, fracturing his skull.
Sansone called it murder.
“There can be no peace in this family until Mr Vineyard’s murder is brought to justice,” he said. “It has been six months since Ken Vineyard was murdered.
“It’s been a really bad month for us,” Vineyard’s fiancé Marcy Beatty said. “I had a nightmare. It was six months on Saturday.”
Beaver County Coroner Dave Gobauer said he could not determine the cause of death or cause of death because an autopsy was not performed. But Sansone says his expert, Cyril Vecht, has pointed out the police’s actions.
“Mr. Wecht advised me that the cause of death was Mr. Hawke’s actions,” he said. “Mr Vineyard likely suffered a heart attack as a direct result of the trauma he received when he hit his head on the ground.”
Last I checked, Mr. Hawk was still on vacation. On Monday, KDKA-TV contacted Center Township about Hawke’s situation, but was told to call his lawyer. No one called back on Monday.