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Family of man shot, killed by off-duty Beaumont Police officer in 2016 files lawsuit in fed court

York and his friends had left the bar around 1 a.m., October 14, 2016, when Welch shot York five times, including shots to his back according to the lawsuit.

BEAUMONT — The family of a Vidor man who was shot and killed by an off-duty Beaumont Police officer in 2016 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the officer and the city.

The lawsuit, filed Friday in U.S. District for the Eastern District of Texas, by Chaz York's family contends that he had been assaulted and was unarmed later when he was shot and killed by off-duty Beaumont Police officer Chad Welch.

“The family I think more than anything wants the truth to come out and let the public know what happened," said lawyer Clint Brasher.

MORE | Read the plaintiff's complaint

York and his friends had been at Madison's on Dowlen Road in Beaumont's west end when he was assaulted in the bar and restaurant according to the lawsuit.

“It’s not a situation where Chaz was involved in a fight at all inside Madison’s, he was punched, he went down and then they escorted him out of the back of the restaurant," said Brasher.

York and his friends had left the bar around 1 a.m., October 14, 2016, when Welch threatened and then shot York five times, including shots to his back according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit contends that York, who had left the bar voluntarily with his friends, was not fleeing, was not under arrest and did not have a weapon or pose a threat to Welch when he was fatally shot.

"It just kind of escalated into Chaz being shot and killed and I think that’s the unfortunate part of the story," said Brasher.

A Beaumont Police spokesperson said at the time of the shooting that York was involved in multiple disturbances and had assaulted several male and female victims before the shooting.

Police said witnesses told them that York threatened Welch with a baseball bat in the parking lot.

Officers explained Welch told York to drop the bat before he shot him but the lawsuit claims York had a bat inside his car and never threatened Welch with it.

The suit explained the bat was tested for DNA and blood but there wasn’t any found that would be “consistent with the shooting.”

“There seems to be, people have different opinions about whether or not that happened,” said Brasher.

The lawsuit says the police department did not punish Welch even though he was "deliberately indifferent to Chaz’s constitutional rights."

It argues Welch used excessive force and was not properly reprimanded for other unrelated incidents dating back to 2012.

"There were a lot of moments along the way where this could have been avoided and I think it’s very unfortunate that a 23 year old man was effectively killed during a night out with his friends,” said Brasher.

A Jefferson County grand jury in December 2016 declined to take any action against Welch, who was off-duty, when he shot and killed York during what police described as a disturbance outside the bar.

The grand jury ruled that the officer involved shooting was justified according to a release at that time from the Jefferson County District Attorney's office.

The city declined ot comment on the Federal lawsuit.

Officer Welch stepped down from the Beaumont Police Department in February of 2017.

He went to work for the San Jacinto county sheriff's office where he was involved in a shooting months later.

12news filed a Texas Open Records Request to find Welch’s current employment status.

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