JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The family and lawyer for a bail bondsman shot and killed by a police officer one year ago announced a wrongful death lawsuit Wednesday against the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office and the city of Jacksonville.
Officer Jason Bailey shot Antonio Cooks and another bondsman at the Mayfair Apartments in the 3500 block of Beach Boulevard on May 24, 2011.
Verne Williams survived. His lawyer has also filed a notice of intent to sue.
Williams claimed he had called Sheriff's Office dispatch three times that night asking for assistance serving an arrest warrant at the apartment complex.
At one point, officers did show up but quickly left. The shots were fired when a second set of officers arrived -- called by a resident of the complex just after 2 a.m. -- who said they knew nothing of bondsmen working in the area.
Images: Evidence photos of bondsmen shootings
Williams said he was wearing a shirt saying "Surety Agent," had a badge hanging around his neck and was trying to identify himself when the shooting started.
"He just started popping, so as he's hitting me, I'm explaining to him who I am," Williams said several months ago. "So I'm, like, 'I'm a surety agent. I'm a bondsman.' So he's popping, and then his partner says to him, 'He's a bondsman, he's a, like, a bondsman. What are you doing? Stop!'"
The state attorney's office cleared the officer, saying he did not violate the law because he did not know the men dressed in black with guns were bondsmen and they refused to put down their weapons. Investigators said he thought they were armed robbers.
Benjamin Crump, the family's lawyer, said he is confident in their case.
"He called the police asking for help. It's not like he was breaking the law or anything," Crump said. "You call the police and say, 'Help us do our job as you want us to do.' They don't want bail bondsmen taking the law into their own hands. They want them calling for police backup, and that's what they did. And that's what makes this case so egregious."