Family wants answers from Dartmouth police in son's death

NEW BEDFORD — The family of Luis G. Roman — shot and killed last month by Dartmouth police after a domestic disturbance — is disputing the department's version of what happened, saying he never fired at officers as police have claimed.

"He killed my baby," said Roman's mother, Myriam Calderon, 43, of New Bedford. "The cops killed my son. I don't have no answers." 

Sasha Prata, 28, of Dartmouth, Roman's former girlfriend and the mother of his 4-year-old son, said in an interview Friday that he never left his vehicle and never fired a shot. "I never saw him get out of the vehicle at all," she said.

She said police walked up to Roman's vehicle, which was parked outside her apartment in Ledgewood Commons, 3 Ledgewood Blvd., Dartmouth, shortly after 11 p.m. on Oct. 23, banged on his window, pointed their firearms at him, knocked on the window a second time, then backed up and fired three shots into the back passenger window.

While the officer-involved shooting remains under investigation by the district attorney's office, Dartmouth police said Roman reached for and brandished one of two guns he was carrying — a .45-caliber semi-automatic and a revolver — and fired two shots at the officers, narrowly missing one of them. An officer returned fire with multiple shots and killed him.

The district attorney's office said police responded to a 911 call from Prata's apartment, reporting that Roman damaged her television and computer. 

Contacted for comment on Friday, Police Chief Timothy M. Lee said he stands by the actions of his officers.

"I'm sorry the family suffered a loss, but I'll repeat what I said that day: Sometimes bad actions have grave consequences," Lee said. "I stand by the actions of my police officers who I believe acted heroically to protect themselves and to save the life of his girlfriend."

Ashley L. Bendiksen, a spokeswoman for Bristol County District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter, said the state police investigation into the officer-involved shooting is ongoing.

Calderon said she wants to know what happened to her son. Everywhere she goes, she just gets referred someplace else, she said. She has gone to Dartmouth police, state police in Dartmouth, the district attorney's office and state police headquarters in Framingham in her search for answers, she said. 

"I want the real story about what happened to my son," she said.

Erick Roman, the deceased's 25-year-old brother, said the family wants to know where on the body Luis was shot and how many times he was shot.

The family argued that Dartmouth police should have used crisis negotiators to resolve the situation.

The family said Luis Roman was disabled with attention deficit disorder and did not work. They said he was depressed and was never the same person following a car accident several years ago. They said his frequent involvement with police was due to his medical condition.

Luis Roman had a lengthy criminal history in New Bedford District Court from 2007 to 2012 that included assaults, threats and drugs, according to court officials. However, there are no guilty findings on his record, only dismissals and cases that were continued without findings and there is no record of any commitment to a state or county penal facility.

"He was a wonderful father. He was a wonderful son. He was a wonderful brother and the best friend in the whole world," his mother said. 

Follow Curt Brown on Twitter @CurtBrown_SCT