By Patrick Adrian
[email protected]
CLAREMONT — A former felon is suing two former Claremont Police Department officers for violating his constitutional rights and unlawfully administering a taser during an illegal search two years ago.
Christopher Ratcliffe, 43, has filed a civil suit in U.S. District Court against Ian Kibbe and Mark Burch, two former Claremont officers who performed a warrantless property search and arrest of Ratcliffe on February 24, 2018. The two former officers later confessed to falsifying information in their police report in an attempt to justify the arrest.
Ratcliffe is also seeking compensation for “physical and nonphysical injuries” sustained when Kibbe shot Ratcliffe with a taser upon entering the room, according to the complaint filed on Aug. 24 by Ratcliffe’s attorneys from the Concord legal firm Douglas, Leonard and Garvey.
“The force Kibbe used was unreasonable, unlawful, wanton and malicious, and was not necessary to perform his duties,” the complaint states.
According to the complaint, Kibbe and Burch, accompanied by New Hampshire State Trooper Eric Fosterling, went to the home of Glen Gardner where Ratcliffe was staying, to arrest Ratcliffe on suspicion of protective order violation. The officers allegedly found Ratcliffe asleep in a bed. Immediately after waking Ratcliffe with shouts and the shining of flashlights, Kibbe allegedly activated a taser charge into Ratcliffe’s chest while Ratcliffe was still disoriented.
After Ratcliffe’s departure, Burch claimed to find a firearm in Ratcliffe’s room while returning to retrieve Ratcliffe’s cellphone. In an expanded room search Kibbe and Burch opened a black suitcase owned by Ratcliffe and found an illegal firearm and an expandable baton.
Kibbe, when testifying to the events, falsely claimed the weapons recovered were in plain view within the room, in an alleged attempt to add multiple felony charges to Ratcliffe’s arrest.
On March 6, 2018, Fosterling brought his concerns regarding Kibbe’s and Burch’s involvement to former Claremont Police Captain Brett Wilmot, who relayed those concerns to Chief Mark Chase. The additional felony charges against Ratcliffe were dropped 10 days later and an Attorney General’s investigation resulted in criminal charges placed on Kibbe and Burke.
Kibbe pleaded guilty on December 3, 2018, to unsworn falsification and obstruction of justice. Burch pleaded guilty on March 14, 2019, to obstruction of justice.
The complaint also points to Kibbe having a prior history of confrontation with Ratcliffe. On the night of September 25, 2016, Kibbe performed a traffic stop of Ratcliffe, hours before an unrelated incident in which Kibbe would fatally shoot Claremont resident Cody LaFont during a welfare check at LaFont’s home. Ratcliffe, even before the name of the involved officer was released, began posting his convictions on Facebook that Kibbe was the shooter, including one where Ratcliffe called Kibbe a “sociopath.”
Kibbe allegedly read and saved screenshots of Ratcliffe’s posts, the complaint states.
Though the Attorney General’s office initially concluded that Kibbe’s use of force in LaFont’s shooting “was justified,” the state amended its conclusion on October 2, 2019, following Kibbe’s convictions on counts of falsifying testimony and obstruction, stating that it “can no longer conclude Mr. Kibbe’s actions were justified.
“Instead the Office has concluded it could not disprove Mr. Kibbe’s self-defense claim, beyond a reasonable doubt, and therefore no criminal charges will be filed against Mr. Kibbe as a result of Mr. Lafont’s death,” the conclusion stated.
Though there was insufficient evidence to challenge Kibbe’s account of his encounter with LaFont, by amending the conclusion the AG’s office enabled LaFont’s family to pursue their civil case against Kibbe.
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.