What happened to Dennis Plowden?

 

Two days after Christmas in 2017, Dennis — who was unarmed — was shot and killed by an officer with the Philadelphia Police Department as he sat on a curb in Germantown with his hands up. The bullet went through Dennis’ hand and struck his head.  

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The officer, Eric Ruch Jr., had shot and wounded another man earlier that year. Ruch was fired after killing Dennis, and the District Attorney’s Office is considering criminal charges against him. Tania, Denis’ wife, has also filed a lawsuit against the city in connection with her husband’s death. On the night of Dec. 27, 2017, Dennis headed to East Germantown to see his mother and drop off Christmas gifts because he had been sick on the holiday. Dennis’ car had been totaled in a hit and run on Thanksgiving, Tania said, so he was using a friend’s white Hyundai. In Germantown, officers attempted to pull Dennis over because they identified the car as having been linked to a homicide the week before.  Although Dennis was not a suspect in the homicide, he sped away from the officers and crashed into two parked cars. He stumbled out of the car, sat on the curb, and was shot moments later by Ruch. 

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Dennis was born April 30, 1992 to Chinita McCoy and Dennis Plowden Sr. Darryl was born four years later and ended up being a few inches taller than Dennis. Dennis always said, “I don’t care how big he gets, I’m always going to be the big brother,” Tania said with a laugh. One part of Tania’s burden of losing Dennis was lifted when Ruch was fired, but she hopes he will ultimately be held criminally responsible for killing Dennis. The case has been under investigation by the D.A.’s office for 2½ years.  

 

What can we do? 

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1. Share his story. 

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2. Contact Philadelphia District attorney Larry Krasner demanding Eric Ruch be prosecuted for the murder of Dennis Plowden. 215-686-8000, 

Emails: 

DA_East@phila.gov 

DA_Central@phila.gov  

DA_Northwest@phila.gov 

DA_South@phila.gov 

DA_Southwest@phila.gov 

DA_Northeast@phila.gov