Dunbar officer at heart of brutality lawsuits resigns

CHARLESTON – A Dunbar police officer who has been named in several police brutality lawsuits has resigned.

Dunbar Police Chief John Garten says Officer Zachary Winters has submitted his letter of resignation. Winters worked for the department for five years.

“He (Winters) came in yesterday (July 21) and submitted his resignation letter, effective immediately,” Garten told The West Virginia Record.

Garten said Winters was involved in the crash of a city police cruiser last week in Raleigh County at the exit on The West Virginia Turnpike. Garten said he does not yet have a copy of the crash report, but he did say Winters was not authorized to be using the cruiser at the time and that he was on a drill with the National Guard.

“Officer Winters made the decision to do what’s best for him and his family,” Garten said. “An opportunity came up for him, and he chose to take this other opportunity. That’s the reason he resigned.”

Winters was named in at least four lawsuits, one of them filed by the estate of a man who died following the incident.

Attorneys L. Dante diTrapano and W. Jesse Forbes filed three lawsuits involving Winters against the city. All three settled.

“It is rewarding as civil rights lawyers to know we played some role in effectuating change for the community,” they said in a joint statement to The Record. “In the cases involving officer Winters, he cost the city and their insurers more than $3 million dollars. 

“While we don’t know all of the reasons why Winters is no longer a Dunbar Police officer, we can tell you based on the lawsuits we pursued against him, Dunbar is a safer place, and the community can begin to heal.”

Winters was one of the officers at the heart of a 2022 federal lawsuit brought by the family of Michael Scott Jr., who was killed while in police custody. The city settled that case for $2 million.

Anthony Reese filed a complaint in 2023 in federal court against Winters, the city and other city officers. It settled last month for $500,000. A similar case filed in May 2024 by Ricky Baire resulted in a $100,000 settlement earlier this year.

Last year, Winters also filed a petition against the city and the Civil Service Commission to get a promotion reinstated after he had been demoted. Winters claimed the way his case was handled violated due process and civil service rules. The result of that petition seeking a writ of prohibition and a writ of mandamus are not known.