American police use car to stop suspect
Print Edition
Police in Arizona, United States on Tuesday released a video showing an officer using his cruiser to intentionally run over a suspect, triggering new questions about what critics call excessive use of force by law enforcement officers in the country.
In the dashcam video, a gunshot is heard before suspect Mario Valencia is seen walking down a street in the town of Marana on February 19 with a rifle.
He is seen firing a shot in the air and then proceeding down the street as police slowly trail him in their vehicles.
Then, a police car driven by officer Michael Rapiejko is caught on the dashcam rushing past and slamming into Valencia from the back before plowing into a cinderblock wall.
Valencia survived the collision.
Marana police chief Terry Rozema defended the action, saying Valencia had refused to obey officers’ commands to put down the rifle and was approaching an office building.
“We can’t allow him to get to the point where he enters the office complex,” he said.
“It’s graphic, it’s violent, but at the same token it warranted deadly force,” he said.
The incident capped a crosstown crime spree, according to police, who said Valencia was fleeing from a Walmart store where he had stolen the rifle.
However, the encounter was only the latest in a series of incidents that critics have said demonstrates a pattern of police brutality and racism across the US.
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