Cop Video Released; Hamden Never Told New Haven It Was Crossing The Border

by Thomas Breen | Apr 23, 2019 3:00 pm

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Posted to: Hamden, Legal Writes, State, Newhallville

State police Tuesday afternoon released video from the camera worn by a Hamden police officer as he fired bullets at two unarmed people in a car in New Haven’s Newhaville neighborhood. It showed the officer firing directly into the passenger window of the car. Meanwhile, the state’s police commissioner revealed that Hamden failed to notify New Haven police that an officer was crossing into town to confront a suspect and that a Yale police officer who also fired his gun did not turn on his body camera. The release took place during a press conference at state police headquarters in Middletown about an investigation into the April 16 incident, which has attracted national attention. Watch the officer’s body cam video at the top of this story, as well as the full press conference. Between 4 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. on April 16, Hamden officer Devin Eaton pursued an attempted armed robbery complaint across town lines into Newhallville. (Click here for a story that includes an exclusive interview with the gas station attendant who called in the complaint; he claims he never saw a gun, only the simulation of one, which is different from what he told the 911 emergency phone operator.) Eaton and Yale Officer Terrance Pollack boxed in a red Honda Civic at Dixwell Avenue and Argyle Street. They fired at least 16 or more bullets into the car, in which an unarmed young couple was trapped. Passenger Stephanie Washington was struck by a bullet and went to the hospital for torso and facial injuries. The driver, Paul Witherspoon III, intends to file suit against the town and Yale, according to his lawyer. (Above is a second video released Tuesday: from a surveillance camera on Argyle Street.) The state police and state’s attorney’s office launched in an investigation, which was the subject of Tuesday afternoon’s press conference. The video includes the same scene at three speeds. It shows Officer Eaton firing initial shots at the driver as he exits the car. Then the officer runs to the passenger side of the car and fires directly into the window. State Police Commissioner James C. Rovella conducted the press conference. He noted that the release of the officer body camera video Tuesday marked “a difference in operating procedures. Before we used to not show any of this until the conclusion of the investigation.” He also released two surveillance camera videos, including the above recording from Dixwell Avenue at the corner of Argyle Street. At the press conference, Rovella began by playing the recording of the original 911 call from the gas station attendant, named Aziz, who reported that a man with “long dreads” had “pulled a gun” on a regular customer in an attempted robbery. Aziz provided the license plate for the Honda Civic in which the alleged thief had fled toward Arch Street. He also mentioned that a woman was in the car. (Days later, Aziz (he declined to give his last name) told the Independent that Witherspoon put his hand underneath his shirt, and pointed at the newspaper deliveryman as if he had a gun. He said Witherspoon was with Washington. “They didn’t have no gun on them,” he said.) Rovella then played audio recordings from the Hamden 911 dispatchers, who put out a BOLO (“be on the lookout” notice) for what she described as a robbery with a gun. After playing the 911 call, Rovella then shared audio recordings from the Hamden 911 dispatchers, who put out a BOLO (“be on the lookout” notice) for what she described as a robbery with a gun. Rovella revealed that Hamden neglected to offer New Haven essential information in the ensuing moments: “Hamden tells New Haven that, in fact, they’ve had an armed robbery involving a firearm. They did not tell New Haven that Hamden was actually entering their city.” He also revealed that Yale officer Pollack “did not click on” his body camera until “so late in the event” that “the recall did not show any of the shooting. We have no camera footage from the Yale officer.” Pollack’s cruiser dash cam was also not on. Pollack also left his vehicle in drive as he ran to the scene, which caused his car to collide with the Honda Civic. (You can watch that happen in Dixwell Avenue video above in this story.) After that report, Rovella played a segment of Hamden Officer Eaton’s video at three speeds. Eaton did not click on his body camera until after the encounter. As a result, no audio was available for the first 16 seconds. The video released Tuesday was drawn from a “recall” function on the camera. “In a perfect world, he would have turned on his camera sooner,” Rovella said. But he noted the many “stressors” the officer faced at the time. The first audio heard on the video is the officer reporting, “Shots fired on Argyle Street!” as driver Witherspoon opens his door. Eaton moves to the passenger side and continues firing at the passenger window, where Stephanie Witherspoon was seated. The commissioner said he would not release video footage coverage after “the initial shooting” because “that is part of our investigatory process.” The commissioner reported that he waited until police conducted a search of the car to release the video. “We did not find a gun” in the car during the search, he confirmed. “I have no intention of charging the officers” until the ongoing investigation is completed, Rovella said. Yale Officer Pollack was also injured in the incident. Rovella said Tuesday that it appears he was hit by a “projectile” from Eaton’s gun. Rovella said he could not disclose how many times Stephanie Washington was hit. He also said the police do not yet have “good information” from the officers about “what they were thinking.” Witherspoon has given an interview to the police, Rovella said. “I have concerns about many different aspects of how this case was handled,” the commissioner said. Also Tuesday, the state NAACP called for the FBI to take over the investigation. “Everyone’s been watching these situations happen across the state since the early 2000s,” NAACP President Scot X. Esdaile told the Independent. “There have been numerous situations across the state. Every time we get the same answer [with] the police exonerated. We need the Justice Department to definitely take a look at these two situations. The reckless endangerment and uncontrolled law enforcement is outrageous. We need another set of eyes. “It’s open season for black and brown people by law enforcement in Connecticut.” Rovella said he didn’t see a need for the feds to come in.. “The state police are the most qualified people” to conduct the investigation, he argued. Update: On Wednesday, Hamden police spokesman Capt. Ronald Smith distributed information about body camera video. He quoted the following department policy: “When placed in Event Mode, the Taser Axon Body records audio and visual data. The previous 30 seconds of buffered video is also saved.” With regards to “Buffering Mode”, department policy states, “The Taser Axon Body continuously loops video recording for a 30 second period. No audio is recorded while buffering.” Smith added: “Our policy states that officer shall activate their body camera at the inception of an interaction with the public in a law enforcement capacity. Our policy states, ‘Interacting with the public in a law enforcement capacity means that a police officer is in personal contact with one or more members of the public, the purpose of which is to conduct a self-initiated investigation into, or to respond to a third party complaint involving the possible commission of any offense, violation or infraction.’ The policy further states in bold lettering, ‘At no time shall police officers disregard officer safety or the safety of the public for the purpose of activating or utilizing the body-warn camera.’” Previous coverage of this case: • Hamden Cop Shoots Woman In Newhallville

• Protesters Storm PD Seeking Answers In Officer-Involved Shooting; Officials Mum

• Cop Who Shot Was Trained In New Haven

• Shot-At Man Plans To File Suit; Clerk Describes Original Complaint

• Outrage Over Shooting Shuts Down Streets

• Elicker: Remove Griffin From Shooting Probe

• Post-Shooting, Focus On Suburban Cops

• Griffin Obtains Search Warrant For Shot-Up Honda; Harp Stands By Griffin

• Top Yale Cops Seek To Rebuild Trust

• Public Seeks Independent Probe

• Farmer Backs Independent Investigation

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posted by: thecove on April 23, 2019 3:40pm Not good.

posted by: Hill Resident on April 23, 2019 3:42pm What I am not hearing or reading is HOW did the Hamden and Yale officers happen upon the red Honda at almost the exact same time? Where was Ofc. Eaton when he received the BOLO? Did Ofc Eaton spot the car traveling after receiving the BOLO? Did he notify/signal Hamden officer? Did Hamden follow the car from some point in Hamden? If not, what led Hamden and Yale police to go to Argyle Street ... 8 blocks from Hamden and 4 blocks from Science Park? So so many unanswered questions as to what led up to the shooting!!!

posted by: SpecialK on April 23, 2019 3:47pm From seeing this and the fact that Officer Pollock was also shot, it would have been easy for him to have felt (without the benefit of 20/20 hindsight) the gunfire was coming from the armed robbery suspect’s vehicle. Remember it’s what the officer perceived based on the totality of circumstances AT THE TIME OF THE INCIDENT and from his perspective that matters, not what we have all been able to review for over a week now.

posted by: Samuel T. Ross-Lee on April 23, 2019 4:01pm Until the investigators can reasonably explain how releasing footage or any other information, undermines their investigation, they need to stop trying to make us believe that it does by saying they are not releasing this or that, “because it’s a part of the investigation.”

posted by: Somewhere In New Haven on April 23, 2019 4:06pm wow!!!! Reading the above draft transcript, sounds like clerk Aziz fu##ed up too. Besides, I frequent this gas station a lot myself, and know there’s camera inside because when I’m inside, I monitor my car while waiting in line. Too bad, unarmed people could have been killed

posted by: THREEFIFTHS on April 23, 2019 4:23pm Peoiple wake up.The Police Were Created to Control Working Class and Poor People, Not Serve and Protect.They are there to protect the property own by the wealthy in poor and working class neighborhoods.

posted by: publikskooled on April 23, 2019 4:24pm so were the two people in the car (red honda tht was shot up) 1- actually at the gas station on arch st 2- if so is there gas station video placing them there 3- if it turns out there was a robbery involving them can they win a lawsuit ? [Paul: Everyone, including the clerk, says there was no robbery. The report was of an attempted robbery. Including a man and a woman in the Honda Civic with that license plate.]

posted by: thecove on April 23, 2019 4:26pm @Samuel T. Ross-Lee Because there may be additional witnesses that come forward and they have to be certain they witnessed the act live and not from what they saw on the released video footage.

posted by: challenge on April 23, 2019 7:10pm I’m sure some of us will need even more evidence of police wrongdoing.

posted by: SparkJames on April 23, 2019 8:13pm The license plate matches the 911 caller’s description. Unless the paper boy and the convenience store owner had a whack desire to serve vengeance on this man (think: swatting), it seems like the cop was right to be extra careful. I’m not a cop… but my common sense would tell me not to pull over a car like that. Close quarters in a tight neighborhood. Do better.

posted by: New Haven Urbanism As more information becomes available, my understanding of this incident will likely change, but this is how it looks to me so far: There was allegedly an argument between two people at a Hamden gas station early in the morning. The perceived aggressor in the argument was driving a red Honda Civic. The clerk at the gas station witnessed this argument from afar and reported it to 911 as an attempted armed robbery. Area police are notified of a possible armed robbery suspect in a red Civic near the border of Hamden and New Haven around 4:30 am. Police identify a car that matches the description given, they box in that vehicle, and approach the driver. The Hamden police officer, approaching from behind, sees the driver getting out of the car. Initially the driver’s hands are visible as he opens the door, but he brings his hands back into the area of his lap and out of sight of the office as he gets out of the car. From the Hamden officer’s perspective, as the driver steps out of the car, the driver’s head emerges first over the top of the car, then followed by his rising hands. The Hamden officer fires at the moment the driver raises his hands up above the top of the car. At the same moment, the Yale police office is approaching the Civic from the front. From the Yale officer’s perspective, he is approaching a possible armed robbery suspect at 4:30am and shots are fired in his direction, so he proceeds to shoot at the vehicle. He may have been unsure who fired the shots, the “suspect”, the Hamden police officer or both. From the perspective of the Civic driver, he was going about his night with his friend when two cops decide to box him in. When he attempts to comply with the officer’s orders by lifting himself out of the car and putting his hands up, the cops open fire.

posted by: Hill Resident on April 23, 2019 9:57pm From the video I now see the Yale officers vehicle sitting at the corner of Argyle when the Hamden cruiser speeds past and does a u-turn. This ‘seems’ to indicate that Yale officer spotted the vehicle on Argyle first. And at the rate of speed the Hamden cruiser was going it looks like he was alerted of the location and ‘over shot’ it in his urgency, then turned around. The Honda was driving at a normal rate of speed towards the intersection of Dixwell ... not fleeing, not backing up or u-turning to go down Shelton. So where was the ‘fear factor’? I can see both the drivers hands in the video ... yet the Hamden officer starts shooting! At what threat? At this point the driver returns to the car for cover and the officer fires rounds into the passenger side ... where was the threat??? And Yale officer starts shooting in response to Hamden officer shooting! Victims caught in the crossfire of two scared cops!!! You can be afraid but you are trained and expected to work through that and respond from your training. Bad call all around!

posted by: New Haven Urbanism If there were no argument at the gas station, the clerk would not have called the police. If the clerk had better understood the alleged altercation, he likely would not have called the police, or if he did call 911 to report “an argument”, the cops may not have even followed up, or they would have followed up hours later. The fact that there was a 911 call at 4:30am of an alleged armed robbery is relevant. If the 911 call was at 4:30 in the afternoon to report an argument, the police response would have been very different and the officers likely would have had a different mindset. If the driver of the civic had kept his hands up the entire time he was exiting the vehicle, the Hamden police officer may not have fired. But because the driver lower his hands as he got out of the car then raised them again, the officer may have feared the driver was reaching down to pick up a gun. With the gift of hindsight, we can see that the driver was trying to comply with the officer’s orders and lowered his hands in order to help push himself out of the car like any person does when they exit a vehicle. I don’t have enough information to know if this incident was a result of malicious hatred, racial discrimination, incompetence, poor training, or a tragic confluence of unfortunate circumstances. I don’t know the intent of the clerk at the gas station. I don’t know what the police officer perceived as the driver raised his hands up. I hope this incident inspires competent people to become police officers and showcase how to be an admirable cop. I hope this incident sparks careful consideration and revision, if necessary, of police training protocols. I hope this incident leads to improved intercity communication between Hamden and New Haven.

posted by: IloveMYcity203 on April 24, 2019 11:36am From the front camera that shows the Yale Officer, it seems as if the officer kept space between his SUV and the Honda, was taking up a safe distance to be able to engage the target (if need be), but close enough to give orders to apprehend the target without use of force, then the Hamden Police Officer decided to let it rip for whatever reason, which prompted the Yale officer to fire before he could even put the car in park, which I assumed he did because he thought that he was under fire from the subject. He called in a 99 and signal 4 (no, I am not going to tell you what those mean), which is serious. Sad sad situation, but from the looks of the video that is available to the public, is seems as if the Hamden officer over reacted causing the Yale officer to react. I appears that the Yale officer was going about things the correct way hence him ordering the subject out of the vehicle, kept a safe distance, and stood behind the door. Next thing you know, Hamden officer gets spooked, then survival for your life kicks in on the YPD officer’s part. Thoughts? ** excuse any typos; I did not proofread ***

posted by: John Champion on April 24, 2019 1:43pm Any interpretation other than trigger happy cops lacking consideration for human life is bogus, as any truthful person can see. The cops need to be fired and charged with attempted murder.

posted by: Ellie2 on April 24, 2019 2:17pm My question is why was a Yale police already on the scene and it appears that the Hamden cop shot into the passenger side first this seemed a little bit personal to me and why wasn’t both cops body cam on if you have been trained in correct procedures to automatically turn your camera on for your safety as well as the safety of the person you are chasing and why did the Hamden cop appear to run away from the car shooting

posted by: IloveMYcity203 on April 24, 2019 3:34pm @John Champion, You wrote: “Any interpretation other than trigger happy cops lacking consideration for human life is bogus, as any truthful person can see. The cops need to be fired and charged with attempted murder.” I don’t think anyone who commented had any other interpretation unless I missed something. All of the people who commented appeared to just base their theories on the evidence that was provided to the public. Keep in mind there is a lot more evidence that has not been made available to the public. I commend Paul with a job well done in gathering all the detailed evidence that he did as well as how he laid it out for us on this thread. With that said, everyone has seen the same video and share the same sentiments. We all have a lot of questions, but just like with anything in life, you have to give everyone a fair trial and investigation before making bias decisions. The Hamden cop clearly was negligent, and I agree that he deserved to be fired, but it does not seem that the Yale officer was the trigger happy one based on the video. Also keep in mind that the Yale officer got shot. If you got shot, I too think you would start firing especially since you don’t expect that bullet to come from a fellow officer, so your mind would quickly go to, “it’s coming from the car.” The Yale Officer called in a signal 99 and signal 4 in distress. Why? Because he got hit and bullets are flying. Listen to his voice. If I an officer and got shot, I would have done the same thing. You don’t call a signal 99 and signal 4 just got games. The camera’s not being on for both officers is clearly a violation. I am not denying that either. As we all get to Monday morning quarterback from videos, we have nothing but theories, thoughts and questions. Hopefully the state will do the right thing with the evidence that has been made available to them.

posted by: IloveMYcity203 on April 24, 2019 3:42pm @Ellie2,

Listen to the BOLO audio that went out over the radio. The Yale officer was close by and came to assist, which is why he was sitting there. As the Hamden officer was driving up Dixwell looking for the vehicle, he double backed. Most likely because the Yale officer radioed to him that he located the vehicle, so the Yale officer waited for cover to engage the subject. Once the Hamden officer came back, that’s when the Yale officer made the U-turn. You’ll see the Yale officer keep the distance, then he moves up a little closer to the vehicle, stands behind the door for cover, then runs once the Hamden officer started firing. While the Yale officer is running across the street, he doesn’t know who’s firing. It was a quick second from him being behind the door to running. Things happen so fast. I don’t even think the Yale officer knew who was shooting. I also agree with you on the Hamden officer firing while running. VERY negligent and dangerous on his part. You need to know your background, foreground, what’s around the target etc. You are responsible for every round that leaves that chamber, and now both will have to pay the ultimate price.

posted by: New Haven Urbanism John Champion, You might be correct, but I do not have access to enough information at this moment to feel confident coming to that same conclusion. For me, the incident appears to be an unfortunate event stemming mostly from a combination of misinformation, inaccurate assumptions, poor timing, fear, and confusion. I cannot say with certainty that malicious intent to do harm unto others explains anyone’s actions. Obviously, I feel terrible for the occupants of the Civic, because as far as I can tell, they were minding their own business and got caught in the middle of a shootout between two cops. Does this mean that the police officers are bad, evil people? Or were they acting appropriately on information that turned out to be inaccurate? I suspect that the officers would have acted different if they were given more accurate information about the alleged altercation at the gas station. Also, the term “truthful person” is an oxymoron. Individual people do not have access to the truth of an incident such as this. All we have access to is limited strands of information that will never add up to a complete picture of the incident. Between the gaps in information, we infill our own biases and preconceived ideas that helps us to form a narrative that makes sense to our world view. In trying to understand this incident through news media articles and video clips, we are doing the same thing that the cops did that night: we are making judgments based on the available information even though it might be incomplete, inaccurate, or misleading.

posted by: mom247 on April 25, 2019 11:57am Is there any implicit bias on the end of the clerk that fueled this debacle? is this not the gas station that is across from a location that has had multiple businesses closed due to shootings and assaults. This wasn’t a possibility of mistaken identity, the clerk gave full description of car including license plates and occupants and definitely said gun.. this in of itself would have officer on high alert. They didnt see someone who might fit the description… they had car with tags, occupants with exact description. Cops tactics were beyond poor ,but if this guy really had been involved in ARMED robbery…it would have played out very different. Don’t throw baby out with bath water. Many things done wrong by many in the whole scenario and punishments are definitely due but this wasn’t” hey I am looking to find someone to mess with and hurt tonight!”

posted by: elmcitybornandraised on April 27, 2019 12:13pm Jonathan Hopkins magnificent comments sir. Your last comment in particular is what I have been preaching to friends, family, associates and strangers for years. Well, well said….. On another note, to the individuals that have been protesting over the past week. I applaud your passion but I do not understand the purpose of blocking traffic in which first responders (EMT’s and Fire in particular) would have to re-route themselves in order to respond to priority 1 incidents. It also disrupts the day of so many individuals that had nothing to do with the shooting incident. Protest outside HPD or their city hall, protest in front of YPD….but disturbing the every day man/woman going to work doesn’t make too much sense to me. That’s what permits are for to peacefully assemble and have your voice heard…..