PHILADELPHIA — A jury on Wednesday convicted former Philadelphia police officer Eric Ruch Jr. of voluntary manslaughter in the 2017 shooting of an unarmed man, marking the first such conviction in at least a half-century or more. The jury cleared him of the more serious charge of third-degree murder.
Ruch bowed his head and cried when the verdict was announced. He cried steadily until his house arrest was ended, bail was denied, and sheriffs escorted him to a court lockup.
Prosecutors said Ruch, 34, acted with reckless disregard for life when he shot and killed Dennis Plowden Jr., 25, within seconds of facing him after Plowden led police on a car chase in Olney. No gun was found on Plowden after he was shot.
