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Attorney says lawsuit against Norfolk officer aims at apology, explanation

Norfolk police charged Dahson Iraldo for the murder of barbershop owner Henry McIntosh, Sr. Charges were dropped months later with no explanation of what led to the arrest.
Dahson Danta Iraldo_cropped.jpg

NORFOLK -- A person accused of murdering a barbershop owner who later had charges against him withdrawn, filed a lawsuit claiming false arrest.

S. W. Dawson, the attorney for Dahson Iraldo, told 13News Now the main objectives of the suit are to get an apology and to find out what led police to arrest Iraldo in July, 2012.

That year, officers said he was responsible for killing Henry McIntosh during a robbery at McIntosh's Square Deal Barber Shop on Church Street in April, 2010.

Dawson filed the lawsuit Tuesday, February 11.

'Mr. Iraldo wants the Commonwealth to take accountability for what it's done, and he certainly hopes this kind of thing won't happen to anyone else in the future,' explained Dawson. 'The Commonwealth has not in any way, shape, or form taken responsibility for what it's done here to this man and his family, nothing in the way of an apology, just nothing.'

Charges against Iraldo were dropped several months after his arrest due to what prosecutors called 'insufficient evidence.'

In 2013, police arrested Bernard Kearney, saying Kearney was the murderer.

Dawson told 13News Now because charges against Iraldo were dropped before a probably cause hearing, neither he nor Iraldo ever knew what led police to arrest his client.

Dawson issued this written statement about the lawsuit against the arresting officer which, in addition to an apology and information, asks for $50,000 :

'The purpose of this suit is to force the Commonwealth to take responsibility for its actions. Accordingly, I will drop this action if the Commonwealth's Attorney issues to Mr. Iraldo a written apology for falsely accusing him of these heinous crimes and, further, if the arresting officer provides to me a detailed explanation as to why he charged Mr. Iraldo in the first place.'

'People need to keep in mind when they see someone's face splattered all over TV or the newspaper, when he's accused of a crime, he's not guilty,' Dawson pointed out. 'The link between that picture and guilt is not to be established at all. He's innocent until he's been proven guilty, and unfortunately, Mr. Iraldo's never gonna be able to get that back. He may have a stigma for the rest of his life.'

Iraldo is serving a sentence for conviction on a gun charge. That gun charge originally led to his arrest in 2012 but had no connection to the McIntosh case.

Dawson is appealing the conviction.

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