Video footage released this week by the Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office shows one of its deputies trying three times to run over a man accused of killing a six-year Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s deputy last month in Porterville.<\/p>\n
The third attempt was ultimately successful in killing the suspect the evening of April 9 in a use of force KCSO said Tuesday, May 19, has been determined to be within the department\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n
Fifty-nine-year-old suspect David Morales, partly visible in the video as he sits in a backyard tree, appears to make no effort to surrender even as a KCSO armored vehicle repeatedly rams his position. Morales is seen moving his arm near his waistband following the deputy\u2019s second attempt at running him over.<\/p>\n
Critical moments in the 7\u00bd-minute video do not show the view from inside the vehicle known as a BearCat. Instead, they are seen from a bird\u2019s-eye view recording taken by a drone hovering above the incident. Much of the scene is shrouded by foliage.<\/p>\n
The drone footage does not come with an audio recording. KCSO reports that Morales continued to fire as the BearCat charged at him. At least two puffs of what appears to be gun smoke are visible as the vehicle closes in.<\/p>\n
KCSO says Morales shot repeatedly at the BearCat and a separate vehicle called a Rook that KCSO was using earlier in the day to tear off a garage door while he sat barricaded inside.<\/p>\n
The incident started in the morning as Tulare County Sheriff\u2019s Office deputies tried to serve Morales with an eviction notice. At 10:20 a.m., Morales reportedly opened fire on the deputies, striking 35-year-old Randy Hoppert, a father and husband who had served with TCSO for six years.<\/p>\n
TCSO\u2019s request for assistance at about 1 p.m. was met 90 minutes later by about half of KCSO\u2019s SWAT Team. Deputies joined representatives of other agencies in the 1700 block of West Brian Avenue.<\/p>\n
As KCSO and other departments conducted evacuations, Morales continued shooting from inside the home, according to the agency\u2019s news release late Tuesday afternoon. Meanwhile, it said, law enforcement officers tried to negotiate a peaceful surrender while also deploying specialized equipment to contain Morales.<\/p>\n
The Rook was withdrawn from the scene after Morales shot at it, KCSO reported, and shortly afterward he fled the home through a window into the backyard.<\/p>\n
The release said the BearCat entered the backyard at about 6 p.m. As the vehicle maneuvered closer to him, it said, Morales used a high-power rifle to fire at the BearCat\u2019s windows. He was also armed with a pistol.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s unclear from the video whether the BearCat succeeded in making physical contact with Morales during its first two attempts. But according to KCSO, he was still armed and reaching for the pistol in his waistband.<\/p>\n
\u201cKCSO SWAT used the BearCat as a means of deadly force to stop the deadly threat posed by the suspect,\u201d the agency\u2019s release said. The ruling that the use of force was within department policy was made by a review panel convened by KCSO.<\/p>\n
Kern County Sheriff Donny Youngblood told reporters April 10 that Morales was lying in wait as SWAT team members approached the back of the home. He noted one of the armored vehicles took four rounds to the driver\u2019s side windshield.<\/p>\n
Tulare County Sheriff Mike Boudreaux has been quoted as saying Morales \u201cgot what he deserved.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shoot at cops, we\u2019re going to run you over,\u201d he said at a news conference on April 10.<\/p>\n
KCSO has noted Deputy Chad Clark was placed on routine critical-incident leave pending the completion of the use-of-deadly-force investigation.<\/p>\n
KCSO asked that anyone with information about the investigation call the agency at 661-861-3110 or Kern Secret Witness: 661-322-4040.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Video footage released this week by the Kern County Sheriff\u2019s Office shows one of its deputies trying three…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":332445,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[151,153,152],"class_list":["post-332444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield","tag-bakersfield-headlines","tag-bakersfield-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332444\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/332445"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}