Sacramento police released body and dash cam footage yesterday of one of their officers hitting a 16-year-old boy on the sidewalk at speeds that made him fly in the air.
The teenager, Daniel, was riding his bicycle on July 22 when he was pulled over by a Sacramento officer for not having a forward-facing white light on his bicycle.
After being pulled over, Daniel took off on foot, which resulted in police chasing him.
The dash cam shows the officer turning onto a sidewalk in front of a house in an attempt to stop Daniel.
Instead, as he turns at what the dash cam shows 27 mph, the officer hits Daniel, resulting in the teenager flying on top of the patrol SUV.
In the footage, the SUV can be heard accelerating and then screeching as it brakes.
Immediately after striking Daniel, the officer jumps out of the SUV to check on him.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! Where’s your injury? What hurts?,” the officer asks.
Rosemarie Gevara, Daniels aunt, was at the scene when it happened.
“You guys fucking ran over my nephew!,” Gevara could be heard screaming at one of the officers.
One officer asks another officer how serious Daniels injuries were and the officer responded that he was bad.
The community quickly gathers around the SUV prompting officers to form a line to stop a protest.
Gevara, said that both family and Black Lives Matter was at the police station when the video was released.
Sacramento Police Department went to their Facebook to put out a link of their statement:
“Clearly, this collision could have been tragic. I am grateful the young man was not more seriously injured and that no one else was injured,” Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn said, “Our training is designed to prevent this sort of thing from happening. We are going to make sure our training – and the officer’s adherence to that training – is as solid as it can be.”
Daniel received minor injuries and was cited for resisting arrest, police said, according to Sacramento Bee.
Before returning to patrol duty, the officer that was driving, underwent training at the department’s Emergency Vehicle Operation Center and is still on the force.
