By Janie Bryant
A man charged at one time
with the shooting death of Norfolk barber Henry McIntosh filed a lawsuit
Tuesday against a police officer, alleging he was arrested without probable
cause.
McIntosh, 86, was killed
April 17, 2010.
Dahson D. Iraldo, now 30,
was arrested in connection with the killing in the summer of 2012, but the
charges were dropped about three months later. Bernard Alexander Kearney, 36,
was indicted in the case in September 2013.
S.W. Dawson, Iraldo's
attorney, said the charges against his client were dropped before the case got
to a preliminary hearing.
Dawson said his client was
initially arrested on a charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon
July 17, 2012. He was charged with the slaying the following day.
The attorney said he believes
police, relying on information from "some kind of informant," thought
they could tie the firearm to the killing but couldn't.
He said his client is suing
Officer J.H. Smith for $50,000 but will drop the suit if the commonwealth's
attorney issues a written apology "for falsely accusing him of these
heinous crimes, and further, if the arresting officer provides to me a detailed
explanation as to why he charged Mr. Iraldo in the first place."
The attorney said his
client also is appealing his conviction on the firearms charge - for which he
was sentenced to five years in April 2013.
Karen Parker-Chesson, a
spokeswoman for the Police Department, referred questions to the city attorney.
City Attorney Bernard
Pishko did not return a call for this story.
Amanda Howie, a spokeswoman
for the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office, said the Norfolk Police Department
sought and obtained warrants from the magistrate's office when it charged
Iraldo in connection with the killing two years ago.
She said the Commonwealth's
Attorney's Office withdrew the charges in October 2012, citing insufficient
evidence to proceed.