James Broaddus Jr.
James David Broaddus Jr. was a 22-year-old veteran of the Korean War and a steelworker. He lived in Baltimore with his father, James Broaddus Sr. and his stepmother, Frances Wallace.
Case summary
Incident
On May 18, 1954, two Baltimore city police officers, Lieutenant Harry Walsh, a white officer, and Patrolman Furrie Cousins, a Black officer, were looking for a Black suspect named James Tiller, who was suspected of larceny and wanted for questioning in the robbery of a safe. At Tiller’s apartment building on North Greene Street, Cousins saw a man he thought was Tiller. Cousins ordered the man at gunpoint to step out of the building into the street. Once outside, someone threw a bottle that hit the ground next to Cousins. The suspect used the distraction to wrest the gun from Cousins, shooting the officer before running away with the weapon. Cousins made it back to the police car and alerted Walsh, who got on the radio and issued a manhunt for Tiller. Cousins was taken to University Hospital.
An estimated 200 police officers from across the city descended on a six-block area to search for Tiller. Leonard and Iola McDonald lived in this zone at 709 George Street, a home which shared a backyard with the Broadduses, who lived at 706 Bradley Street.
In his statement to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Leonard McDonald said that when he arrived home at 11:30 that morning, he noticed the large police presence. McDonald heard a girl tell officers, “He is in the back,” prompting police to run in the direction of McDonald’s backyard, climbing over fences to get there. McDonald followed them to the backyard of his home. In her statement to the FBI, McDonald’s wife, Iola, stated that she heard one of her neighbors ask a white woman on the street what was going on. According to Iola McDonald, the woman replied, “A colored fellow just shot an officer,” then turned to the police and said, “You boys be careful. Use your guns.”
Sergeant Louis M. Rehak, a white 36-year-old police officer, stated in a subsequent Police Court hearing that during the search he noticed a tarp-covered glider on the other side of a fence. Rehak saw the tarp move, so he reached over the fence and lifted a piece of it. “I saw a colored man,” Rehak recounted, “and he looked right at me.” Rehak said he then hopped over the fence, shouting, “Come out with your hands up!”
In his statement to the FBI, Leonard McDonald said he saw Rehak raise the tarp and declare, “Here he is; don’t move,” and began shooting. Iola McDonald corroborated her husband’s account to the FBI. The McDonalds stated they saw James Broaddus Jr. fall from the glider to the ground after Rehak shot him several times.
Rehak testified that, after warning Broaddus to come out from beneath the tarp with his hands up, Broaddus stood up and hit him on the arm with what looked like a gun. Rehak explained that he later learned the item was a chisel, but he thought he saw a “nickel-plated revolver” in Broaddus’s other hand. Rehak stated that he did not begin shooting until Broaddus struck his shoulder with the chisel. Rehak fired six shots, explaining, “We were in close and I didn’t know if I’d hit him or not.” Newspaper accounts of the police court hearing reported that Rehak stated that Broaddus was bent over at the time the shots were fired. Rehak said Broaddus fell on the ground after the shooting, but started to get up again when he saw another officer, Patrolman William J. Hirsch, approaching. Broaddus allegedly hit Hirsch between the eyes with the chisel, so Hirsch struck Broaddus three times with the butt of his service weapon.
The McDonalds both told the FBI that after Broaddus fell to the ground, they heard him tell the officer, “I’m home. I’m in my mother’s yard.” The Baltimore Sun reported that two other neighbors, Theresa Timmoson and Gladys Smith, both saw Broaddus lying on the ground beside the glider. Several witnesses heard Broaddus ask the officer for water. Timmoson stated that Broaddus asked Rehak, “Why did you shoot me? I didn’t do anything,” to which Rehak replied, “Shut up.”
Broaddus was taken to University Hospital, where he died at 6:40 p.m.
Aftermath
Police located their suspect, Tiller, in a different house on George Street. According to The Baltimore News-Post, Tiller “surrendered without a struggle.” Police officers found Patrolman Cousins’ gun in the house. Cousins recovered from his gunshot wound at Mercy Hospital.
Following a habeas corpus hearing, Judge Joseph L. Carter released Rehak to the custody of Captain Frank A. Deems. In the meantime, Chief Inspector Fred L. Ford led the investigation into the shooting of Broaddus, directing a laboratory analysis of the tarp, as well as a chisel and toy pistol recovered from the scene.
On May 21, Broaddus’s father contacted Clarence and Juanita Mitchell of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). Clarence Mitchell visited Broaddus at home around 8p.m. Broaddus suggested that Mitchell discuss the shooting with the McDonalds. About an hour later, Mitchell found the McDonalds at the Northwestern Police Station. According to the FBI report, Mitchell said the McDonalds had been urged by police to “change their story.” Mitchell escorted the McDonalds to the Baltimore FBI office to secure signed statements.
Dr. Russell S. Fisher conducted an autopsy on May 22 and determined that Broaddus died as the result of four bullet wounds to the back. Fisher also remarked that Broaddus had “three severe lacerations” on his scalp.
In a Central Police Court hearing on June 15, 1954, Rehak stated that, at the time, he believed Broaddus was armed and was the suspect police were looking for. Hirsch agreed, noting that he jumped over two fences to help Rehak when he heard the struggle. The Baltimore Sun reported that the crime laboratory analysis of the tarp revealed “approximately” three bullet holes surrounded by powder. Following the hearing, Chief Magistrate William F. Laukaitis sent the case before a Baltimore City grand jury.
George Cochran Doub, attorney general for the District of Maryland, wrote to Assistant U.S. Attorney General Warren Olney III early in July recommending that any decision about pursuing a civil rights case be deferred “until the conclusion of the state’s proceedings.” Doub added, “It does seem fairly clear that Rehak was excited at the time and believed he had found the [shooter] of his fellow police officer when he fired at Broaddus. I am frankly skeptical of Rehak’s assertions that he was attacked by Broaddus, even though his alleged injuries would appear to be confirmed by the records of Mercy Hospital.” Hospital records reviewed by the FBI showed that Rehak was treated on May 18 “for a lacerated left hand and a strained ligament of the left shoulder,” while Hirsch was treated for a cut on his nose.
Rehak testified before a Baltimore City Grand Jury on August 25, 1954, that he believed Broaddus was the suspect police were searching for. He said he fired six shots only when Broaddus went to attack him. After deliberating for three hours the following day, the jury declined to indict Rehak.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) provided notice of its intention to close Broaddus’s file on September 24, 1954. In a September 29 letter to Doub, Olney explained, “notwithstanding the apparently gross negligence on the part of the officer, it would be almost impossible to prove that he had the specific intent to deprive the victim of his life. The officer thought he was confronting a dangerous suspect, or at least he so would argue…. Accordingly, the file is closed.”
Broaddus was buried at Baltimore National Cemetery. Rehak died in 2006 at the age of 88.
Media Gallery
Case summaries are compiled from information contained in different sources, including, but not limited to, investigative records, arrest reports, court filings, census records, birth and death certificates, transcripts, and press releases. In many cases, the records contain contradictory assertions.
In addition to the incident files associated with this case, this summary relied on the following:
Sources
U.S. Federal Census, 1940 and 1950
Baltimore City Directory, 1958
U.S. Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1977
WWII Draft Registration Card, undated
Report of Internment, 1954
U.S. Veterans Gravesites
“Broadus Death Data Asked,” The Evening Sun (Baltimore, MD), May 19, 1954
“Man is Killed in Own Yard as Police Hunt for Another,” The Baltimore Sun, May 19, 1954
“Sodaro Appoints Aide for Broadus Probe,” The Baltimore Sun, May 25, 1954
J. D. Williams, “Sleeping Vet Slain: Police Sergeant Held Under Bond,” The Baltimore Afro-American, May 29, 1954
“Rehak is Held for Killing War Veteran,” The Baltimore Sun, June 16, 1954
“Jury to Hear Evidence in Broadus Case,” The Baltimore Sun, August 21, 1954
“Grand Jury Rejects Charge Against Cop,” The Cumberland News (Cumberland, MD)
“Jury Frees Policeman in Killing,” The Baltimore Sun, August 26, 1954
“2d Police Shooting in 3 Days Sets Off Baltimore Manhunt,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), May 21, 1954
“Hospital Bills Father of Man Slain in Hunt for Someone Else,” Evening Star (Washington, DC), June 16, 1954
“Police Sergeant Tells How He Shot Wrong Man,” Delaware State News (Dover, DE), June 16, 1954
“In Memoriam,” The Baltimore Sun, May 22, 1954
Obituary for Louis M. Rehak, The Baltimore Sun, October 17, 2006