The state Attorney General's office ruled a North Kingstown detective and state police detective were legally justified when they shot six times at a tow-truck driver, wounding his sister, after the man tried to run over the detectives in North Providence in 2012, the Providence Journal reported Friday.
Then-NK Det. Tyler Denniston and state police Detective Herbert Tillson were part of a state police task force investigating Sean Sparfven, who was suspected of stealing cars and selling them for scrap.
When they attempted to arrest Sparfven at K&R Auto Salvage on Sept. 19, 2012, plans when awry, ending in a chase that went from the North Providence salvage yard to a street in Providence and resulting in several smashed cruisers, five injured police officers, and Sparfven’s sister shot by the police.
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Sparfven, 31, is at the Adult Correctional Institutions, awaiting trial on 26 felony charges, including assault, stealing cars, and causing mayhem. He is also serving a five-year sentence on a different case.
Sparfven's sister, Renee, 30, has filed a lawsuit in Superior Court against the two officers.
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Denniston has since joined the state police.
North Kingstown police officers were involved in another police shooting in 2009, when officers John Urban and Kevin Gleason shot NK resident Mark Kilcline in his home. A grand jury cleared the officers. Kilcline died in 2013. The town settled a lawsuit from Kilcline’s family for $7 million.
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