Authorities Monday released video footage of a police shooting that left an auto-theft suspect with non-fatal bullet wounds following a road chase from Lincoln Park to the La Presa neighborhood of Spring Valley.
Officer Henry Ingram Jr. of the San Diego Police Department opened fire on Edwaun Walter Thames, 39, when the suspect appeared to reach for a pistol — actually a novelty cigarette lighter designed to look like a handgun — after crashing the stolen white 2005 Lexus he was driving near Sweetwater Lane County Park, according to SDPD public affairs.
The roughly 10-minute pursuit began at about 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 22, when a patrol officer spotted the Lexus near the intersection of Euclid and Imperial avenues.
When the lawman tried to pull him over, Thames stopped briefly, then sped off, according to police.
GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: The video below was edited and released by San Diego police and shows the incident. Viewer discretion is advised.
While traveling to the east on Imperial Avenue, the suspect ran over a tire-flattening spike strip that officers had laid out on the roadway at 69th Street. Though the device left the front tires of the car deflated, Thames continued fleeing, running stop signs and red lights as he continued through the far eastern reaches of San Diego.
A short time later, after passing under state Route 125, the suspect lost control of the stolen car, sending it crashing off the roadway at Gillespie Drive and Jamacha Road. There, the vehicle struck a light pole, which tipped over, falling onto a pursuing SDPD cruiser.
At that point, Thames got out of the damaged car, dropping the shiny silver gun-shaped cigarette lighter onto the street as he did so.
Video footage captured by Ingram’s uniform-worn camera shows the suspect getting onto his knees. A fellow officer, meanwhile, can be heard asking, “Is that a real gun?”
Moments later, the suspect leaned toward the mock pistol with his right hand extended toward it, and Ingram fired two rounds at him, sending the suspect collapsing onto the asphalt.
The shooting occurred after the pursuit and eventual crash of a stolen car. NBC 7’s Jeanette Quezada has a closer look at the body-worn camera video and a different perspective from a witness.
On the day of the incident, NBC 7 obtained a video of the shooting from a witness who asked to remain anonymous. Within hours, SDPD released a preliminary video of the incident from the officers’ point of view — unusually fast for the release of body-worn camera footage — adding that the department would release a more comprehensive video in the coming weeks. California law requires “critical incident videos” to be released within 45 days.
An officer was treated at the scene of the shooting for cuts suffered when the toppling utility standard broke a window on the patrol vehicle it landed on, police said.
Following his release from medical care, Thames was booked into county jail on suspicion of auto theft, possessing a stolen car and felony evasion of police.