PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) – A Pinellas County Sheriff’s deputy followed policy when he shot and killed a man in January, prosecutors said.
The Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office announced Deputy Richard Curry was cleared in the shooting death of 29-year-old Marquis Golden.
“As a result of the investigation conducted by my office, I have determined that Deputy Richard Curry was in the lawful performance of his legal duties when he discharged his weapon at Marquis Golden and Delvin Ford,” Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe wrote in a letter to Sheriff Bob Gualtieri.
The day of the shooting, Jan. 23, investigators said the two men had sped away from traffic stops in Clearwater. The car’s license plate led deputies to a home in the 2200 block of 36th Street South in St. Petersburg.
Deputy Curry was there to stake out the house when one of the men approached his car. Curry, who was wearing his uniform, rolled down the window and identified himself as a deputy.
Curry told investigators the man went back inside the home to meet up with another man. Then the men came back outside and started walking toward Curry’s car. One of them was holding a rifle. The other was holding a different firearm, the deputy said.
In fear for his life, Curry exited the vehicle and started shooting. A man later identified as Golden returned the fire.
Deputies said both men started running down an alley. Golden was later found dead near the home.
“Marquis Golden and Delvin Ford’s actions of raising their firearms and subsequently firing them at Deputy Curry constituted the offenses of Aggravated Assault and Attempted Murder of a Law Enforcement Officer,” McCabe continued. “Deputy Richard Curry had reason to believe that Marquis Golden and Delvin Ford posed a danger of great bodily harm or death to him when he fired his weapon.”
Curry was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard protocol for officer-involved shootings. He has since returned to work.
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