Supreme Court allows wrongful death case against Arlington officer to proceed

ARLINGTON, Texas - The United States Supreme Court allowed a wrongful death lawsuit against an Arlington police officer to move forward.

Officer Craig Roper shot 23-year-old Tavis Crane during a felony warrant investigation in 2017.

RELATED: Arlington officer seriously hurt in traffic stop, suspect killed

The incident started with a traffic stop. Police said Crane then refused to get out of the car so that he could be arrested on a warrant out of Dallas County for felony evading arrest and a probation violation. He also had several outstanding misdemeanor warrants out of Grand Prairie.

Roper, as a backup officer, reportedly put Crane in a chokehold and shot him, causing the car to move and hit the officer who had pulled him over.

That officer suffered broken bones but survived. Crane died the next day at a hospital.

A Tarrant County grand jury cleared Officer Roper of criminal wrongdoing.

RELATED: Grand jury clears Arlington officer in fatal traffic stop shooting

However, the Arlington NAACP believes Roper’s decision to use deadly force was reckless and an overreaction. 

The organization claims the only reason Crane was pulled over was because the original officer mistook a plastic candy cane for drug paraphernalia.

 "There needs to be a full trial on the merits of this case and not have it dismissed because officers get a pass," said Alisa Simmons, past president of the Arlington NAACP, said in a news release. "At the end of the day, a young man was shot and killed by a sworn, trained police officer because of a plastic candy cane that Mr. Crane’s toddler dropped from a back seat window."

The city of Arlington tried to shield Roper from civil liability. The Supreme Court denied that request.

Crane’s family’s lawsuit can now go to trial.