New York police released harrowing body camera video from a traffic stop that went awry when the driver tried to speed away while dragging an officer and was shot and killed.
Also in the car was a 6-year-old relative of the driver.
‘The officer found himself in a grave risk of serious physical injury or death.’
The 19-minute video shows the Buffalo officer interacting with the man during a traffic stop near Kensington Avenue near Poultney Avenue early on Wednesday morning just after midnight.
The officer tells the man that he pulled him over for speeding and for having illegal tint on the windows of the car.
At one point, the child tells the officer it’s his birthday, and the officer wishes him a happy birthday.
The man tells the police that the car is not his and that he is not able to produce identification but says he has a photograph of his ID from Georgia on his phone.
After the officer is unable to confirm the identity of the man based on the photograph, he asks him to step out of the car. At that point, the man hits the gas and tries to speed away with the officer hanging on to the side of the vehicle.
“This point, without any provocation without any warning, the driver of the vehicle quickly put the car in drive and accelerated at a very high rate of speed. The officer who had a hold of the top of the door was unable to let go of the door,” explained Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.
The officer can be heard on the video yelling to the driver, “You’re going to kill me, you’re going to kill me!”
Gramaglia said that the car reached up to 60 miles per hour before the officer shot at the man.
“Watching the video it appears as though the motorist turned to the side and almost in a kicking motion, we are making an assumption at this point, it appears as though the driver was trying to kick the driver off the side of the vehicle,” he continued.
The officer was able to obtain control of the car after shooting the man five times before they both tumbled out of the vehicle. The car rolled on for another 100 feet before coming to a stop.
Police said the child was uninjured. The officer suffered minor injuries and was released after treatment.
While police had not yet identified the deceased suspect, WGRZ-TV said it confirmed him to be 25-year-old Dae’von Roberts.
Roberts is the half-brother to Jaylen Griffen, a 12-year-old child whose remains were found in April in the attic of a south Buffalo home after he had been missing for four years.
Roberts referred to Griffen in the body cam video.
Gramaglia said Thursday that the shooting was justified based on their investigation.
“Reviewing the video, going through the evidence that we have, I do believe that is a justified use of force that occurred the other night,” he said. “When you take into account the fact that the officer found himself in a grave risk of serious physical injury or death, the use of that level of force is justified, in this case.”
Police have not said if Roberts’ actions are related to the death of his half-brother.
Here’s the harrowing video released by the Buffalo Police Department.
Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!
The post Body cam video shows Buffalo cop shoot and kill man who was dragging him on the side of his car after traffic stop appeared first on TheBlaze.
