Dash Cam Shows California Police Trying to Run Over Man Before Shooting Him

By Evelyn Rupert, The Hill

03 October 16

 

wo Sacramento police officers tried more than once to hit a man with their car before shooting him to death in July, newly released footage shows.

Dash camera footage of the incident was released last week and published by the Sacramento Bee Friday.

One officer says “f--- this guy” and “I’m going to hit him” as the car tries to run down Joseph Mann.

“Go for it, go for it,” his partner responds.

The car reverses and drives at Mann again as he runs across the street.

“We'll get him,” an officer says as Mann runs out of the way the second time.

The officers then jump out of the vehicle and a few seconds later fire several shots at Mann.

Police were called to the area after reports of a man acting erratically, and dispatchers said he had been seen with a knife and a gun. A gun was not recovered at the scene.

Other officers had already responded when the two in question, who have been put on desk duty, pulled up.

The other officers can be seen in separate footage telling Mann to get on the ground. He doesn’t comply and starts to move away from the officers, who pursue him slowly in their car.

They order him to drop a small knife he had, which he also refuses to do.

Mann can be seen running slowly away from the first police vehicles on the scene as the other car speeds in and drives straight at him.

Methamphetamine was found in Mann’s system.

Mann’s family has filed a lawsuit and a claim against the city, The Washington Post reported, and plans to amend it with the new footage. Mann’s family said he was having a mental health crisis and was “displaying obvious signs of mental distress.”

The suit claims the police did not try to de-escalate the situation and instead went straight to lethal force.

The July 11 incident took place just days after five police officers were shot in Dallas at a protest for another incident in which police killed a black man.