** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Officials have released video footage of a Nov. 28 incident in which police fatally shot a man who drove at them in his pickup truck, knocking a detective to the ground and damaging two police vehicles. Dash camera video shows an Eaton County Sheriff’s deputy following Robert Claude Smith, 64, down rural roads before Smith turns around his pickup and drives directly at two stopped police vehicles. Video captured by the deputy’s body camera shows Smith driving at a patrol vehicle and smashing into it, forcing it into a detective’s vehicle. The deputy had left his patrol vehicle and gotten out of the way before the collision. He began firing at the speeding pickup just before it struck the patrol car. The detective had also left his unmarked vehicle before the collision, and was behind it when he was knocked to the ground by the impact of the collision, officials said. State police said in November that the detective’s injuries were minor.
The detective is seen in the body cam video firing at Smith after the pickup crashed into the marked patrol vehicle. Each officer fired eight rounds, said Ingham County Prosecutor Carol Siemon, who reviewed the shooting earlier this month and found the officers acted lawfully. Smith died from a gunshot wound to the head, she said. He was later found to have had a blood alcohol content of 0.19 at the time of his death. Siemon’s office released the video footage in response to a public records request by the State Journal. The shooting occurred after the detective and deputy attempted to serve a search warrant and felony arrest warrant at Smith’s home on East Spicerville Highway in Brookfield Township the afternoon of Nov. 28.
The officers saw Smith leaving the residence in a truck and tried to stop him. The detective and deputy pursued Smith east on East Spicerville Highway and south on Wilcox Road. Officials have said the warrants for Smith’s arrest and a search of the property stemmed from a Nov. 26 arrest by Michigan Department of Natural Resources officers in Eaton County for driving while under the influence. During that encounter, DNR officers found a gun on Smith. Smith was not allowed to possess firearms because he was a convicted felon. Court records indicate that Smith pleaded guilty to drug charges in Eaton County in 2011. Smith told the DNR officers he “would not be afraid to commit gun violence, and that he had nothing to lose,” according to the news release. State police have said previously Smith did not have a gun when he was shot.
Eaton County Sheriff Tom Reich said an internal review of the incident began after Siemon finished her review and has yet to be concluded. “First of all, any loss of life is tragic, and we understand the resulting grief that Mr. Smith’s family and friends are going through,” Reich said in a statement. He said the officers “acted with the only reasonable means available to avert a reasonable threat of death and/or serious bodily injury.” They didn’t know at the time whether Smith was armed, he said. “They were aware of his very recent possession of a firearm as a convicted felon, and that a search warrant had been issued for his residence to search for additional firearms and ammunition.”
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** (Disclaimer: This video content is intended for educational and informational purposes only) **
Lethal force unjustified
Not sure where he's going but at that rate, it will be a while.
RIP Bob. I’ll never forget the last talk we had. You even told me you’d go out like this.
1:02 that cop wanted to make sure he never hit another police car again!
Chevy C/K 1500?
In Canada, that last shot for good measure, would easily land this cop in jail. his justification for lethal force is gone, when he stopped shooting, the threat was gone. so the last shot could be considered retaliatory.
aside from that, the asshole in the truck deserved every bullet.
They could've just shot the trucks rims. They didn't have to shoot the innocent man.
NOOO Not the Explorer
The Red Truck Got Crash and Killed By The Ford Explorer Police Interceptor!
He armed himself with a truck . . . . now he's bang out of luck.
Booty and willCOCKS. Ha
This happened only like a mile from my house in eaton rapids
Looking right at person sized dent in back of the truck. “Are you ok, did you get hit?â€
rip cop car
Wow!!!
Hes peeling into my patrol car lol funny
Awesome, that's better than my tax dollars supporting this worthless little nothing
My Man gets hit by a car get up on his knees and engages his target! Awesome job!
Idiot
Holy shit!
Other cop hit the back of his own car dam
And wait until the media twists this to where the cops are the bad guys.
2:10 is that Hank from Breaking bad?
He didn't even do nuffin'. Why didn't you even try the taser? Whuddabout the 40 Mike Mike? Total police brutality. He was faking that the car hit his legs because they play the shoot um up game. Meow.
Theres a reason chevrolets motto is like a rock
En usa no se andan con juegos, puro pelotazos
He just made the police car kapput. He did not like it. Why is he shot? That's not normal. Completely ill.
We're at booty ðŸ‘
black car lifes matter
My POV is a 1995 Chevrolet K1500 heavy. Those things were built like tanks, not like the prissy pickups of today. Detective is very blessed the truck didn't kill him. It is very hard to stop almost 6800lbs of solid steel.
Looks like he went out with a….BANG >:0
Damn, did you see the dent in the back of that Detective's vehicle? He got hit hard man.
One for the road
who names a road booty and will cocks 🤣
Officer fired a warning shot to his head
It can not be that one shoots people always the same.
I hope they were able to salvage those cruisers