New video was just released by the Napa County District Attorney’s Office of a recent car chase that went horribly wrong. It shows a police officer shooting a teen named Demarea Vaughn Rogers III in the back as he runs in the other direction, on Jan. 11 in a North Vallejo neighborhood. Police say Rogers led them on a chase after they tried to pull him over near Highway 29 and American Canyon Road — a pursuit that ended in him getting out of the car and trying to flee. And while no one can ever know the whole story when it comes to high-intensity encounters like this one, the latest footage is not a good look for the officer who pulled the trigger. His name is Josh Coleman, and he’s a member of the American Canyon Police Department, which is staffed by the Napa County Sheriff’s Department. When he shot Rogers that day, it thankfully wasn’t enough to kill the 18-year-old — which I suspect is why this officer-involved shooting has attracted less attention than some others. (“He’s doing very well now,” Rogers’ attorney tells the Press Democrat. “He’s still walking with crutches. But he’s in physical therapy and he’s doing fine.”) Still, a good number of activists and journalists have been following the case — in particular, an independent newsroom called OpenVallejo. And it was thanks to a record request filed by the Vallejo Sun that we have this new video, captured by a home security camera in the neighborhood. Up until now, the only other footage the sheriff had released was mostly from police vehicle cams and the body cams of other officers at the scene — but none of it seemed to show what was happening when Coleman actually pulled the trigger. In fact, sheriff’s officials told reporters that the battery powering Coleman’s own body cam had died sometime before he shot Rogers — thus adding to the mystique of the whole case. Here’s a summary of what’s shown in the new home-security footage, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle: “‘Hands up, drop the gun,’ Coleman says in the video. Rogers drops one gun on the driveway in front of a house and continues to run with another gun in his hand. ‘Drop the gun, or I’ll shoot you,’ Coleman says as Rogers runs across the street toward another house. Seconds later, just as Rogers appears to throw another gun toward a patch of grass, Coleman opens fire on Rogers, striking him in the back.” In some of the previously released body-cam footage, from the aftermath of the shooting, Rogers can be heard saying things like “I can’t move” and “Please don’t let me die” and “I just want to see my mom.” And Coleman, who ends up being the one to apply a tourniquet to Rogers after shooting him, says: “I thought you were trying to pull that gun out on me, bro. It looked like you were trying to shoot me.” Coleman is also getting some heat, in light of all this, for his previous history at the Vallejo Police Department. The PD reports that he pulled the trigger on four different suspects while on the local force, and was also involved in a “badge-bending” scandal where “some members of the city’s police force had a ritual of bending the tips of their badges after on-duty fatal shootings.” (Source: OpenVallejo via X & Vallejo Sun & Press Democrat & San Francisco Chronicle; paywall)
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