Almost a year after a Miami Police officer shot a man who investigators say hit the officer with his car, the state attorney’s office says the officer was legally justified in shooting his gun.
Newly released officer’s body-worn camera footage shows the incident that night back in May.
According to Miami Police officials and an arrest report, the officer was directing traffic near 2nd Street and Biscayne Boulevard for a concert when a BMW driven by Menelek Clarke made contact with the officer.
“The defendant began slowly driving towards officer [name redacted] who can be seen on body-worn camera using a whistle and raising his hand with his palm facing outward, signaling the defendant to stop,” the report said.
Family PhotoFamily Photo
Menelek Clarke
But the report said Clarke kept driving and made contact with the officer, “causing him to bend forward and place both hands on the hood of the vehicle to maintain his balance,” the report said.
The officer pulled out his weapon and slapped the hood of the BMW, but Clarke continued driving, hitting the officer a second time and “propelling him onto the hood of the vehicle,” the report said.
As the car kept moving, the officer opened fire and shot Clarke through the windshield, which was caught on camera.
Clarke’s sister, who was inside the BMW, told NBC6 days after the shooting that he was wrongfully shot.
“We were all stopped, we were in the middle lane, he told everyone else to go with his hands, and then he stood in front of my brother’s car and shot him,” she said.
At the end of a nearly year-long investigation, the state attorney said in a close-out memo that the officer did not commit a criminal act, but instead, shot in self-defense.
NBC6 reached out to Clarke’s attorney for comment.