CHARLOTTE — A former FBI task force officer and 10-year-veteran of the Gastonia Police Department has sued the City of Charlotte and a CMPD officer more than two years after a shooting that left him injured.
The shooting happened in November 2019 while officers from CMPD were helping an FBI task force serve a search warrant at a home on Oakburn Drive.
The FBI task force and CMPD officers Heather Loveridge and Nicolas Pezzeca were serving a warrant for a suspect named Larry McConneyhead, who was believed to be trafficking cocaine and meth out of the Derita neighborhood home.
The lawsuit says former FBI task force officer Clarence Belton Jr. was inside the garage of the home when he saw a woman inside the house pointing a gun at him and shouted “gun, gun.”
Belton fired a shot at the woman before he felt his right arm go numb, dropped his weapon, and crawled out of the garage.
The lawsuit claims that Loveridge was in the driveway and fired her gun at Belton fourteen times, hitting him several times in both arms.
Belton is now suing Heather Loveridge and the City of Charlotte, who is held liable since Loveridge was then employed by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, for negligence.
Loveridge is individually being sued for assault and battery.
Belton is asking for compensatory damages and a jury trial.
In July of 2020, The District Attorney decided not to charge Loveridge with a crime for the shooting based on the State Bureau of Investigation’s information.
In September of 2020, CMPD did an internal investigation with a hearing before the Independent Shooting Review and found that Loveridge’s actions violated the rule of conduct for use of deadly force.
Officer Loveridge was suspended and cited to the Civil Service Board to be fired. On Tuesday, Channel 9 filed a records request with the department to clarify Loveridge’s current employment status.
Channel 9 has asked the city of Charlotte and Loveridge’s attorney for a response to Belton’s lawsuit. The city does not have a comment. Loveridge’s attorney has not responded.
On Feb. 14, Loveridge requested an additional thirty days to answer Belton’s lawsuit.
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