Newly-released video of a deadly officer involved shooting last year in Danville raised new questions about whether the killing was justified.
Danville police say their officer feared a suspect would run him over and opened fire, but some say dash and body cam video tells an entirely different story.
It all began when police started chasing a driver after neighbors reported him acting suspicious in November 2018.
After chasing the man and attempting to box him in, an officer is seen getting out of his patrol car, running in front of the suspect’s Honda and immediately opening fire.
“Fired right away and multiple times at a person who was unarmed who hadn’t verbally threatened anyone and was not wanted for any heinous crimes and this is the way you contact a person?” said attorney Adante Pointer.
Laudemer Arboleda, who had a history of mental illness, died in the shooting.
The sheriff’s office spokesman maintains the officer fired his gun because Arboleda tried running him down. Last year, Danville’s police chief also insisted it was self-defense.
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“Unfortunately, the driver drove his vehicle straight towards one of our officers,” said Allan Shields from the Danville Police Department. “Fearing for his life, our officer fired his weapon toward the vehicle in an attempt to get the driver to stop.”
Pointer said however, that the video proves the officer’s actions were way over the top.
“A flat out criminal homicide,” he said.
