So many times, we have reported on cops shooting at fleeing vehicles by claiming they were standing directly in the path of the vehicle, only for video evidence to later prove them wrong, that we automatically expect cops to do this when the opportunity arises.
But here’s a dashcam video from last month showing Michigan deputies trying to apprehend a teenager in a stolen car, having ample opportunity to shoot and kill him, only for them to hold their fire.
The Macomb County sheriff’s deputies eventually captured Dylan Michael Yates, 19, without once pulling the trigger, which is probably one reason why the story did not get more exposure.
But it’s a dramatic video nonetheless.
There is one deputy standing off to the side of the vehicle who had a clear shot at the teen, only to watch the teen place the car into reverse.
That deputy then ran up to the car, momentarily placed his hand on it, only for the teen to speed off.
The dashcam video ends without showing the arrest, so we just have to take the word of the sheriff’s office that they apprehended him without abusing him too hard.
But he does not show any evidence of being beaten in his mugshot, even though the sheriff’s office did admit to engaging in a “tussle” with the teen.
According to the Macomb Daily:
Sheriff’s deputies pursued Yates in the Saturn over several streets in Mount Clemens before he jumped out of the “rolling” car near Grand and Washington streets, where he was apprehended after a physical confrontation with deputies, police said.
Four deputies were injured, including one who reached into the rolling vehicle and two others “during the tussle” with Yates, Barlog said.
Yates also received minor injuries.
Barlog said Yates was formally charged Friday in 41B District Court in Clinton Township with receiving and concealing stolen property and third-degree fleeing and eluding, both five-year felonies, and resisting arrest causing injury and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon, both offenses punishable by up to four years in prison.
Yates was being held on a $50,000 bond, cash or surety, sheriff’s officials said.
Jail records indicate Yates has “holds” for charges in four other courts: larceny by conversion in 41A District Court in Sterling Heights or Shelby Township; possession of alcohol in 36th District Court in Detroit; illegally tinted windows in 40th District Court in St. Clair Shores; and possession of marijuana in 42-II District Court in New Baltimore.
But that was not enough for commenters on the news article, who were upset that deputies did not shoot him dead.
So there will predictably be people who say that if he was black, he would have been shot dead and perhaps that may be true, but it would be impossible to truly speculate without knowing the history of the deputy who had a clear shot.
But it’s also true that cops have shot or killed white people by claiming they were about to be run over and have gotten away with it.
So we will commend this deputy for holding his fire.
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