(Bellevue, Iowa) – Lawyers for the City of Bellevue are arguing in court that the police department shouldn’t be held liable for failing to enforce a no-contact order and arrest warrant for a man who subsequently murdered his estranged wife. The city argues police officers have no constitutional duty to protect individuals from harm and instead have a more generalized duty to serve the public. The arguments are being made in a federal civil lawsuit filed against the city by the family of the late Angela Marie Prichard, who was shot and killed by her estranged husband, Christopher Prichard, in 2022.

The Iowa Capital Dispatch reports the lawsuit claims the killing was the result of a “state-created danger” caused by the malfeasance, reckless or intentional behavior of the Bellevue Police Department. It accuses city police officers of “showing favoritism toward Christopher Prichard,” and alleges that his relationship with the police “enabled and fostered” his ability to murder his estranged wife. According to the lawsuit, Christopher Prichard was arrested in November 2019 on a charge of first-degree theft. The police allegedly “acquiesced” to his release on bail and to 31 continuances in the case over the next four years. Those continuances, the lawsuit claims, “enabled Christopher Prichard to remain free of custody and emboldened him to repeatedly harass and assault Angela Marie Prichard.”

A photo of the victim and a note she wrote shortly before her death. (Exhibits from Iowa District Court files)

The police department’s actions were allegedly influenced by the fact that Christopher Prichard had “a personal relationship with one or more” of the city police officers and the fact that he had provided officers with electrical services at no cost or for a reduced fee. Court records indicate that on April 18, 2022, Christopher Prichard was arrested for domestic violence against his estranged wife, and a no-contact order was issued in the case. A few months later, Angela Prichard allegedly located a tracking device in her Jeep as well as two hidden cameras that had been placed in her home — potential violations of Iowa’s anti-stalking and invasion of privacy laws. Angela Prichard notified the Bellevue police of the situation and, according to the lawsuit, the police “refused to enforce the law.”

The city has yet to file an answer to the lawsuit, but has filed what it calls a “pre-answer motion to dismiss.”  As part of that motion, lawyers for the city argue that while the Iowa Legislature could have passed legislation allowing civil lawsuits for failure by the police to enforce a no-contact order, it opted not to do so.

In court filings, the city also expresses “vehement disagreement” with the family’s portrayal of the facts, but adds that “even if all these facts are assumed to be entirely true, the United States Supreme Court has already determined that plaintiffs’ due process claim must be dismissed.”