Washington County police officer criminally liable in death of Coraopolis man, coroner rules

A Washington County police officer is criminally liable in the shooting death of a Coraopolis man at the end of a chase in April, the Washington County coroner ruled at the conclusion of an inquest.

Coroner S. Timothy Warco found that Mt. Pleasant Township Officer Tyler Evans was not justified in using deadly force and should be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the death of Eduardo Lee Hoover Jr., 38, who died from two gunshot wounds to the head fired by Evans.

If the Washington County District Attorney doesn’t charge Evans, Warco recommended that the state Attorney General do so.

Hoover died April 2 in Washington, Pa., after a chase that primarily involved officers from Mt. Pleasant and Smith townships. The chase started in Mt. Pleasant Township and continued on Route 18 toward Washington, ending in the 1100 block of Jefferson Avenue.

Earlier this month, Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said two Smith Township officers involved in the shooting death were justified in their actions. He did not address the actions of Mt. Pleasant Township officers.

Before the inquest began, Westmoreland County Court quashed subpoenas of the officers involved in the chase at their request. As a result, Mt. Pleasant police Chief Matthew Tharp, Officer Crystal R. Metalik and Evans did not appear to testify, nor did Smith police Chief Bernie LaRue and Officer Michael J. Pasquale.

State police Cpl. Daniel Eddy, the lead investigator, also was subpoenaed but did not appear, the coroner said.

The coroner said he viewed dashcam video from three of the four officers involved in the chase, the bodycam video of Evans showing him firing the fatal shots and surveillance video from a convenience store near the scene. Pasquale’s dash and body cameras were not operating at the time.

Statements from Pasquale and Evans were in a report entered into evidence.

The coroner found that Hoover ended the chase by stopping in the 1100 block of Jefferson Avenue. Five police vehicles, including a vehicle from the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, boxed in Hoover’s truck.

Hoover was not committing any forcible felony and did not have a deadly weapon, the coroner found. Because his truck was boxed in with little room to maneuver, it could not have been used as a deadly weapon.

Pasquale, who was in front of Hoover’s vehicle, ordered Hoover to get out. Hoover backed up his truck, hitting Evans’ vehicle. Pasquale fired two rounds into the truck’s front grille to try to disable it.

The coroner noted that Pasquale, who was in greater danger than Evans and had a clear shot at Hoover, chose not to use lethal force.

Evans gave statements that the coroner said were contrary to what his bodycam showed.

The coroner said Evans’ bodycam video shows him putting his vehicle in park, at which time it is hit.

“Evans then shouts an expletive, gets out of the vehicle and immediately fires two rounds through the rear windshield of the truck, fatally shooting Hoover,” the coroner wrote. “It is of some concern that Officer Evans, despite his apparent concern for the safety of his fellow officers, fired directly into the back of the vehicle when he knew that Officer Pasquale had positioned himself in front of the vehicle.”

Chief Deputy Coroner Matthew Yancosek found Hoover lying in the street outside his vehicle. He was declared dead at the scene.

Hoover’s autopsy listed his cause of death as two gunshot wounds to the head and neck. He had a blood alcohol level measured at 0.279%, more than three times the legal limit, a toxicology report found.

Hoover is survived by three children, according to his obituary.