Crook County and a sheriff’s deputy will officially face a wrongful death lawsuit after a federal judge said the family of a police shooting victim may proceed with their case.
Nicholas Rodin, 35, died on Feb. 4, 2022, after he called 911 and asked to be arrested for an outstanding felony warrant. He told dispatchers he needed to be arrested “before I flip out and hurt somebody.” His family said he was in the middle of a mental health crisis.
Crook County Deputy Steven Hatcher responded to Rodin’s location without any less lethal weapons, didn’t wait for backup and at one point yelled to Rodin he would “blow his fucking head off,” court records show.
Mark O. Hatfield United States Courthouse, a federal courthouse in Portland, Ore., July, 2023.
Caden Perry / OPB
Michael Fuller, the attorney representing Rodin’s family, said they are encouraged by a recent federal court ruling that allows the lawsuit to proceed.
“All along, all they’ve wanted is for a local jury to review what happened and make a determination if it was lawful — if Mr. Rodin’s life could have been spared,” Fuller said. “This decision gives the family this opportunity.”
A month after Rodin’s death, Crook County District Attorney Kari Hathorn ruled Hatcher’s use of deadly force justified. Officials in Crook County, situated just east of Jefferson and Deschutes counties in central Oregon, did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Marco Hernandez ruled Rodin’s family can pursue a wrongful death claim. However, the judge dismissed the family’s claim that Hatcher used excessive force.
Hernandez’s ruling arrived a month after U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew Hallman authored a 32-page recommendation on the case. Hallman contended Hatcher’s use of force is protected under qualified immunity.
Rodin told dispatchers he had a knife and a .22 caliber pistol. He pretended to reach for a weapon during his confrontation with Hatcher, according to the magistrate judge, and can be heard on body-worn camera footage responding to Hatcher’s threats by saying, “not if I shoot you first.”
Rodin was not armed, however. He carried a cell phone and a bottle of soda.
Nicholas Rodin, 35, looks at Crook County Sheriff's Deputy Steven Hatcher moments before the encounter turned deadly Feb. 4, 2022. A federal judge recently agreed Rodin's family could take its wrongful death claim to a civil trial.
Courtesy of Crook Coutny / Courtesy of Crook County
Hallman wrote that Hatcher had reason to believe that Rodin was armed. Fuller told OPB that the estate isn’t worried the excessive force claim was tossed because it is a significantly higher legal standard to prove.
“We’ve always known that claim was going to be difficult,” Fuller said.
Still, Hallman wrote that a jury should hear arguments of whether Hatcher’s actions may have caused the encounter to spin out of control in the first place.
Rodin’s family argues that he was clearly in the midst of a mental health episode and that Hatcher’s actions escalated the situation.
Two deputies responded to Rodin after his initial 911 phone call at 4:44 a.m. When the deputies couldn’t find him, they closed the dispatch call. Hatcher told dispatchers to reopen the case — calling it “sketchy” — after he started his shift at 6 a.m., court records show.
Filings by Rodin’s family allege Hatcher carried a standard-issue handgun and a rifle, but no pepper spray, Taser, or “any other type of less lethal weapon.” His Taser was out of service.
Hours later, Hatcher spotted Rodin sitting on a tree stump on a rural road. As Rodin started to walk up the road, Hatcher trailed him slowly in his police car. He radioed that he planned to “slow play” the situation as he waited for backup.
Hatcher confronted Rodin after seeing him near someone’s driveway, according to Hallman’s recommendations. Rodin retrieved his phone as Hatcher approached, prompting Hatcher to draw his gun and order Rodin to his knees.
In body-worn camera footage, Hatcher repeatedly yells at Rodin to get on the ground and keep his hands clear. The footage lasts less than two minutes before Hatcher pulls the trigger.
Rodin, visibly angry, is seen in the footage arguing that he needs to call his girlfriend and that he has a baby on the way. He tells Hatcher he didn’t do anything wrong. He doesn’t follow Hatcher’s shouted commands.
Amid the two men shouting at each other, Rodin can be heard saying, “Not if I shoot you first,” to Hatcher, who is shouting for Rodin to lie on the ground. The deputy responds, “Do it, I will blow your fucking head off.” At another point, Hatcher yells, “You’re goddamn right I’ll kill you!”
After Rodin stands up, the footage shows, he said, “I want to die,” and stepped toward Hatcher. Hatcher fired two rounds into Rodin’s chest. Rodin later died from his injuries and no weapons were recovered.
A trial date is not yet set for the wrongful death claim.