New video details a tragic incident in which Paradise, California, police officer Patrick Feaster shot and killed an unarmed DUI suspect after a chase and fatal car crash. The Chicago Tribune reports:
Recordings show that police in Northern California initially dismissed a man's claim he had been shot by an officer after a high-speed pursuit and rollover accident that killed another person.
Paradise, Calif., police Officer Patrick Feaster didn't tell his commanding officer for 11 minutes at the accident scene that he had fired his gun, according to recordings obtained by the Paradise Post.
Trapped in the overturned vehicle, the man told officers twice that he had been shot, the newspaper reported Wednesday.
The shooting, which was captured by a dashboard camera, had prompted protests in Paradise, 90 miles north of Sacramento. The officer has said he accidentally shot the driver, who was paralyzed by a wound to the neck. Prosecutors concluded that there was no basis for filing criminal charges against Feaster, who remains on paid administrative leave.
KRCR-TV reports that Andrew Thomas, who was driving the car, later died from his injuries. His wife Darien Ehorn was ejected from the car and died at the scene.
The video shows Feaster calmly approaching the overturned car, drawing his weapon, aiming, and firing into Thomas, after which Feaster holsters his weapon and makes no attempt to aid Thomas. According to CNN, the district attorney described the shooting as “negligent” but still declined to press charges.
The question here: Just how much unnecessary violence do police have to commit in order to be indicted?