Mitchell Paurowski, former Troy police captain and investigator for the Attorney General’s office, was on the scene the morning of the shooting. Paurowski requested information at the time and followed up two days later seeking video footage, radio transmissions, medical reports, and witness accounts. The Troy Police Department and Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove refused to cooperate, becoming the only local police department to be sued for non-cooperation under the executive order.
Instead city officials publicly declare that Edson Thevenin was armed – with his car – and therefore does not fall under the conditions of the executive order.1
The Office of the Attorney General report determined that the Troy PD “prejudged” the investigation’s outcome and set out, from the beginning, to define the car as a weapon. This prejudgement bwy the Troy Police Department was a way to exonerate Sergeant French immediately and to keep the case within the jurisdiction of Troy government.
“The TPD’s prejudgment of the investigation’s outcome is also evident in a search warrant application seeking permission to process Mr. Thevenin’s vehicle. That application, signed the day of the shooting, states that before Sgt. French fired any shots, Mr. Thevenin ‘drove directly into Sgt. French . . . [causing him] to become pinned and crushed.’ Further, the search warrant application concludes with the statement: ‘It is believed that a search of [Mr. Thevenin’s vehicle] will provide additional evidence regarding the investigation of the Assault in the 1st Degree toward Sgt. French.’ Mr. Thevenin was deceased and could not be charged with assault; the focus of the investigation should have been whether Mr. Thevenin’s homicide was justified.” 2