Tacoma Police Officers Plead Not Guilty In Death Of Manuel Ellis

TACOMA, WA — The three Tacoma police officers charged in the killing of Manuel Ellis made their first appearance in court Friday.

At their arraignment hearings Friday, officers Matthew Collins, Christopher Burbank and Timothy Rankine each pleaded not guilty — Burbank and Collins to charges of second-degree murder, Rankine to a charge of first-degree manslaughter.

The court also set each officer's bail at $100,000. All three have since made bail, the News Tribune reported.

Their arraignment follows a charging announcement from Attorney General Bob Ferguson Thursday, the end of a nearly 14-month long investigation into the death of 33-year-old Manuel Ellis.

Ellis, a 33-year-old Black Tacoma man, was killed while being restrained by Tacoma police the night of March 3, 2020. Officers on scene claim that Ellis had been combative and had needed to be physically restrained for his own safety, but a probable cause document filed by the Attorney General's Office says that witness interviews and recordings of the event severely undercut the officers' stories.

According to that document, Collins and Burbank approached Ellis near the intersection of 96th Street South and Ainsworth Avenue South as Ellis was walking home from the nearby 7-Eleven. After what witnesses described as a "casual" and "respectful" conversation with the officers, Ellis began to walk away, when, according to the AGO investigation, officer Burbank abruptly swung open the passenger door of their patrol car, hitting Ellis from behind and knocking him to his knees.

The Attorney General's Office says piecing together footage from cell phone video, a recording from a nearby doorbell camera, and the 911 call recording paints a picture of what happened next: officer Burbank picks up Ellis, who had been struggling to stand, and throws Ellis back to the ground. The officers then beat him on the head at least four times as he lays prone, the investigation documents say.

“Hey! Stop!" one of the witnesses can be heard crying out on camera, according to the documents. "Oh my god, stop hitting him! Stop hitting him! Just arrest him.”

The officers then reportedly placed Ellis in a lateral vascular neck restraint, hit him with a stun gun, and called for backup. The probable cause documents say Ellis was not fighting back, despite what the officers may have claimed:

"The video depicts Ellis struggling at times against the officers’ restraints, but does not show Ellis attempting to strike the officers at any point."

One of the officers who responded to the call for backup was Timothy Rankine. Once on scene, the AGO says Rankine placed himself on Ellis, who began to complain to officers that he could not breathe. Ellis was then hogtied and a spit hood was placed over his head, during which the probable cause documents say Ellis repeated his plea that he could not breathe. Despite the restraints, Rankine continued to pin down Ellis by his neck and back, the documents said.

While that was happening, one of the other officers on scene, identified in court documents as Tacoma Police Department Sgt. Lim, called for an ambulance for Ellis. However, by the time Tacoma Fire Department medics arrived at 11:34 p.m., Ellis was dead. The Pierce County Medical Examiner later determined Ellis died as a result of hypoxia due to lack of air flow, and ruled his death a homicide.

If found guilty of second-degree murder, Collins and Burbank could be sentenced to between 10 and 18 years in prison. For defendants with no prior criminal history like Timothy Rankine, a manslaughter charge can result in between 6.5 and 8.5 years behind bars.

Despite the criminal charges, all three officers remain on paid leave from the Tacoma Police Department, though Interim Chief of Police Mike Ake and Tacoma City Manager Elizabeth Pauli have launched a second investigation into their conduct, and the conduct of the other officers on scene, which could result in their firing.

Related: 3 Officers Charged In Killing Of Manuel Ellis