The man with the camera was in shock as he witnessed a man on fire rolling around on the sidewalk after a fiery crash.
“Help him out! Help him out!” he yelled to the New Jersey cops who were pulling up to the scene with sirens wailing.
Instead, they kicked and beat him, dragging him into the street before handcuffing him.
Meanwhile, the man they were chasing was running away from the scene.
On Thursday, four Jersey City police officers were criminally charged, including two with attempted murder.
The incident took place on June 4 as police confronted a man named Leo Pinkston, who was double-parked, believing his car matched a car in a shooting the night before, although they appear to have been wrong about that as well.
Nevertheless, Pinkston, who has admitted he was high on cocaine, became paranoid and sped off, sparking a six-mile pursuit that lasted six minutes.
During the pursuit, Pinkston struck a car, prompting the pursuing officers to shoot at him, striking him in the leg.
He then struck a car driven by Miguel Feliz, propelling that car into a utility pole, causing it to engulf in flames.
Feliz, 28, managed to unbuckle himself from the seat beat and shatter his passenger side window where he crawled out of the burning car, his body also engulfed in flames.
He then began rolling around on the sidewalk in an attempt to put out the flames, which was when the cops sped up and began attacking him with their guns drawn.
They eventually caught Pinkston, who had been shot in the leg, but even after placing Feliz in the ambulance, they insisted on keeping the handcuffs on him, according to NJ.com.
“They broke my ribs,” he said in the interview. “I asked ‘Why are you hitting me?’ While I was in ambulance they put the handcuffs on me. I told the (EMT), ‘Can you tell the police to take off the handcuffs from me? Where am I going to go?’ “
The four cops who have been charged are:
1. Lieutenant Keith Ludwig (3 counts total): 2nd and 3rd degree aggravated assault, official misconduct
2. MD Khan (13 counts total): Possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, 2nd and 3rd and 4th degree aggravated assault, attempted murder, official misconduct
3. Officer Eric Kosinski (5 counts total): Possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, 2nd and 3rd degree aggravated assault, attempted murder, official misconduct
4. Officer Francisco Rodriguez (4 counts total): Possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, 2nd and 3rd degree aggravated assault, official misconduct
While Pinkston apparently had nothing to do with the shooting police were initially investigating, he is still in jail on eluding and aggravated assault charges.
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