PORTLAND (AP) – The ex-wife and a friend of a Portland man fatally shot by police while attempting to drive off from a weekend traffic stop are questioning why police didn’t let him go and arrest him later.

Albert Kittrell, 48, was killed when police fired multiple shots after becoming entangled in his vehicle as he attempted to drive away following a traffic stop at 9:45 p.m. Saturday, police said.

Kittrell’s ex-wife, Cindi Kinard, told the Portland Press Herald that Kittrell was driving her Ford Explorer when police pulled him over on St. John Street near Brighton Avenue. As police approached the SUV, Kittrell called Kinard on a cell phone to see if there was something wrong with the vehicle that might have prompted police to stop him.

Kittrell knew he was driving with a suspended license, Kinard said, and she left her nearby apartment and rushed toward the scene. Listening on her cell phone, she heard a police officer tell Kittrell to get off the phone.

When she got within sight of her Explorer, the vehicle was moving and an officer had reached into the rolled-down driver’s side window. That’s when Kinard heard four gunshots and one of the officers shouting “run” at bystanders.

“It was a wrongful death,” Kinard said.

The incident began when Officers Nicholas Goodman and James Davison pulled over Kittrell’s vehicle and determined that his license had been revoked as a habitual offender, according to a statement issued by police.

Shots were fired after the officers were caught in the vehicle as Kittrell tried to drive away, police said. Kittrell was pronounced dead at Maine Medical Center. The officers were treated for minor injuries and released.

Kittrell was an automobile mechanic and Alabama native who came to Maine in the early 1990s to help his brother run his business, Westbrook Transmission auto shop.

Kittrell most recently was living with Kinard and was estranged from his current wife. At the time of the shooting, Kittrell was on his way to his estranged wife’s apartment after she called seeking his help, Kinard said.

Kittrell had a criminal record and a checkered driving record, but he was also a devout Christian who friends said would help anybody in need.

John Searles, who owns Town and Country Motors in Westbrook, said he knew both sides of Kittrell – the helpful religious man and the confrontational man who struggled with substance abuse.

“Albert was a Christian guy who had an alcohol and drug problem,” Searles said.

Searles said he couldn’t understand why police didn’t let Kittrell drive away Saturday night and arrest him later.

“They knew who he was,” he said.

The state Attorney General’s office, which investigates all police shootings, will determine if the use of deadly force was justified. Kittrell’s brother, Joseph Kittrell of Durham, said the family will be watching closely.

“The family is going to be pursuing justice,” he said.

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