Lake Worth Police Chief Says Officer Sued For Excessive Force, Also Fatally Shot Armed Man During Traffic Stop
LAKE WORTH, Texas (CBSDFW.COM) - Lake Worth Police Chief J.T. Manoushagian said Tuesday, Jan. 25 the same officer who was sued Monday for excessive force after striking a man with his SUV in Nov. 2020, also shot and killed an armed man during a traffic stop in Sept. 2021.
"As soon as i learned that the connection had been made in the public eye, I immediately went to my team as asked for the press conference because I believe our community deserves to hear that from me," Chief Manoushagian said.
Then-Officer Jonathan Granado, who resigned in November 2021, initiated a traffic stop on a stolen vehicle that was speeding.
All of the people inside got out and ran. One of the people had a weapon.
Officer Granado fired his weapon killing Esteban Ramirez.
At the time, Chief Manoushagian said the officer had "no choice but to shoot."
The criminal investigation ended and the case was turned over to the Tarrant County DA's office in December.
Granado resigned about three weeks before that.
Lake Worth used an outside agency to conduct a review of the officer's actions.
On Monday, a Denton County man filed a federal lawsuit against Officer Granado alleging the officer ran him over while the man was running away in November 2020.
The lawsuit accuses then-Officer Jonathan Granado of using excessive force when he hit Dustin Bates in a police SUV.
Bates was unarmed but did not pull over for a traffic stop due to a license plate issue while riding a motorcycle.
The incident was captured on Granado's dash cam.
