Knowing that his actions were being recorded, Steven Jackson of the Prince George’s County Police Department grabbed a 24-year-old man out of his car and punched him twice before tackling him to the ground.
But that didn’t stop Jackson from claiming on his report that it was the man who struck him first, then tackled him into traffic.
Jackson not only proved to be a boldface liar, but a dimwitted idiot as well.
Steven Jackson
After all, he specifically told Shawn Leake that he was being “visually recorded” during the May 25, 2008 traffic stop.
Didn’t he think a defense attorney would subpoena the tape?
After watching the tape, prosecutors dropped all charges against Leake, including assault on a police officer, reckless conduct and failure to obey a lawful order.
Jackson obviously doesn’t think about the consequences of his overly aggressive actions because three months after this incident, he shot and killed an unarmed man for carrying an open container of beer.
In that incident, Jackson claimed that he “feared for his life” – which has become such a cliche in these unjust killings.
But three witnesses, including Espina’s son, say he was not resisting when he was beaten and shot. An autopsy revealed that Espina suffered blunt force injuries to his face and arms.
Jackson is still on paid administrative leave for the August 16, 2008 shooting, suggesting that the Prince George’s County Police Department is a lot more thorough in its investigations than the Miami Beach Police Department, which allowed an officer to return to duty just four days after shooting an unarmed man – only to kill again.
Or perhaps the Prince George’s County Police Department was just hoping people would forget about the controversial shooting.
Little did they know that Jackson would make the news again for the incident in which he pulled Leake over for having illegal tints.
During the traffic stop, Jackson had some type of issue with Leake’s insurance documents and ordered him to step out of the car.
Leake inquired why he needed to step out of the car, which infuriated Jackson.
“Step out of the car now, or I’ll have you out of the car,” Jackson can be heard saying.
“You yelling, but you have to give me a reason to step out of the car,” Leake replied.
When Jackson grabs and starts yanking him out the car, you can hear Leake saying something about his leg being stuck on the steering wheel.
Jackson punches him twice, then grabs him by his neck and tackles him down where they fall out of frame.
However, Jackson claimed in his report that Leake “immediately took a combative stance and struck me with a closed fist uppercut to my face.”
He also said that Leake “continued to fight me and even tackled me to the ground into the next lane of oncoming traffic.”
Jackson was in such a state of denial that after he handcuffed Leake, he accused him of hitting him.
“You hit me in my [expletive] lip,” Jackson says.”I did not hit you, man,” Leake replies. ‘
“I was trying to get out of the car. My leg was stuck to the thing.”
“Dude, it’s all on tape,” Jackson said.
Leake replies, “You hit yourself when you tried to knock me out.
Check out the video here to decide for yourself. The action starts at 3:10.
