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A Washington state police officer was temporarily placed on leave after his patrol vehicle crisscrossed a pedestrian crowd on Saturday night, The Tacoma News-Tribune reports.
In footage provided to the newspaper by an eyewitness, the patrol vehicle can be seen approaching a group of pedestrians who are said to have gathered at a crossroads in downtown Tacoma to watch a street race.
As the vehicle approached the intersection, more people could be seen walking forward. We could then see the vehicle backing up before accelerating into the crowd, apparently crushing people.
According to the local newspaper, one person was sent to hospital after the incident.
“There were several vehicles and around 100 people present blocking the intersection when officers arrived at the scene. Tacoma police officers who responded to the location began clearing the intersection of vehicles and people for the safety of those gathered and people trying to use the street, ”Tacoma Police Department said. the newspaper.
“During the operation, a responding Tacoma police vehicle was surrounded by a crowd,” the department continued. The agency claimed that “people hit the body of the police vehicle and its windows while the officer was stopped in the street.”
“The officer, fearing for his safety, tried to back down, but was unable to do so because of the crowd. The officer had his lights and sirens on, “the office said, adding:” While trying to extricate himself from a dangerous position, the officer drove forward hitting a person and may have hit other.
The department said it turned the investigation of the incident over to county officials.
In a statement to the newspaper, Acting Police Chief Mike Ake said he feared the department “will suffer yet another lethal use of force incident.”
“I send my thoughts to anyone who was injured in tonight’s event, and I pledge to cooperate fully with our department in the independent investigation and to assess the actions of the department’s response during the event. ‘incident,’ he added.
The department has come under scrutiny amid weeks of protests against police brutality following the death of Manuel Ellis in March.
Ellis, a black man, died at the age of 33 in Tacoma. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office said his death was a homicide after discovering he died of respiratory arrest caused by physical restraint after local police tied him to the ground in handcuffs.
–Updated at 9:12 am
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