East St. Louis man shot by deputies gets maximum sentence for drug, weapons charges
An East St. Louis man who was shot by a St. Clair County Sheriff’s deputy following a high-speed chase in January has been sentenced to prison for drug and weapons charges stemming from the incident.
Demetrius O. Ward, 42, was sentenced to the statutory maximum term of 10 years in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and possession of heroin, the office of U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois Steven D. Weinhoeft announced Thursday. Ward will also be required to serve the maximum three years of supervised release once he completes his prison sentence.
“Demetrius Ward may have been shot, but he was no victim,” Weinhoeft said in a written statement. “He was an armed criminal who created a dangerous situation that forced law enforcement to act. He caused his own injuries.”
On Jan. 19, a St. Clair County Sheriff’s deputy attempted to stop the car Ward was driving for a traffic violation in East St. Louis. Ward refused to stop the car and led the deputy on a high-speed chase that did not end until Ward crashed into a pole, police said.
The deputy shouted commands at Ward to surrender, but Ward continued to flee on foot. According to a release, he was in possession of a stolen, fully-loaded handgun and 9 grams of heroin.
The officer chased Ward on foot and repeatedly ordered him to stop, police said. Ward continued to run until he accidentally dropped the .9 mm gun outside of an apartment complex at 18th Street and Ridge Avenue. He stopped, turned around and, while facing the officer, bent down to reach and pick up the gun.
“The officer was forced to make a split-second decision to defend himself and fired his service weapon, striking Ward in the chest,” Weinhoeft said in the release.
The deputy was not wearing a body camera, nor did the car have a dashboard camera, St. Clair County Sheriff Rick Watson told the Belleville News-Democrat at the time.
But a witness posted a video of the incident on Facebook. The deputy can be heard yelling, “Get out of the car and put your hands up!” and “stop right there!” before firing multiple shots.
The St. Clair County Sheriff’s Department has said it would not release the identity of the deputy involved.
Ward was prohibited from owning a gun because of seven prior felony convictions, including a 2005 conviction for armed robbery in St. Clair County.
Ward spoke to the BND in the wake of the shooting and said he had been reaching for a cell phone and money that fell out of his pocket when the officer shot him.
“I think he was trying to kill me,” Ward said at the time.
In Thursday’s release, Weinhoeft said “law enforcement is under attack.” Then he commented on Ward’s version of what happened.
“Those lies were exposed and justice was done in this case,” he said. “But it is another stark reminder that the public should always wait for all the facts to be known before reacting to an officer-involved shooting.”
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