GUILTY CA - Andrew Thomas, 26, fatally shot by Paradise PD officer, 26 Nov 2015

[kimlynn]

Outrage in Paradise after cop shoots crashed drunk driver.

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/outrage...-paradise-california-officer-patrick-feaster/

Feaster walks towards the car and fires one shot, hitting Thomas in the neck as he attempted to get out through the window. Twenty-five seconds, later Feaster describes Thomas as being uncooperative.

Video may be disturbing to some.

 

[Montjoy]

Wow -- totally unjustified shooting. Prosecutors called it an accidental shooting, and say that the LEO was 'in shock' -- but he was evidently not in great enough shock to prevent himself from lying to dispatch shortly afterwards, saying that the driver (who he had just shot) was refusing to come out of the vehicle.

The video is disturbing, to be sure, but it also speaks for itself.

 

[RoiPD86]

I'm all for supporting my Brothers and Sisters in blue when they do the right thing. I don't stand behind those who do not. I have to agree that based on the video this was a serious error and not how it should have been handled. I supposed one could say that as the suspect climbs out of the car his rear hand is not visible and thus could be a threat to an officer in the heat of the moment, but it is a stretch to say that this is what he perceived. I will go with my gut feeling and state that even if an accidental shoot, this Officer made a huge mistake in tactics. There were so many other options that would have provided the officer more cover and advantage to analyze the scene. Bad job.....

 

[kimlynn]

Wow -- totally unjustified shooting. Prosecutors called it an accidental shooting, and say that the LEO was 'in shock' -- but he was evidently not in great enough shock to prevent himself from lying to dispatch shortly afterwards, saying that the driver (who he had just shot) was refusing to come out of the vehicle.

The video is disturbing, to be sure, but it also speaks for itself.

If a cop is in shock from a rollover accident maybe they shouldn't be a cop. He also wasn't in enough of a state of shock that he wasn't able to holster his weapon after firing it.
I don't get how anyone could say...ooops just an accident and be allowed to continue on with policing.
IMO

 

[bluesneakers]

He walked right up to him, shot him and he knew exactly what he was doing. Then he calmly calls dispatch like nbd.

And of course he'll get away with. Of course he will.

 

[kimlynn]

He walked right up to him, shot him and he knew exactly what he was doing. Then he calmly calls dispatch like nbd.

And of course he'll get away with. Of course he will.

I'm hoping that with the public attention that he will at least be fired. Surely having him on the force would be considered a safety issue.
He could have killed this guy.
IMO

 

[Archangel7]

Likely voluntarily removed from duties or fired, depending on Union.
PD will be sued in civil action, lose and award ~5 million.

Don't drink and drive.
Don't run from authorities.
Don't walk with finger on trigger.

Pretty unprofessional behavior that destroyed two lives going forward.

 

[KaaBoom]

Just another day in America.

1,091 people killed by police so far this year.
208 of them unarmed.

The Counted/ people killed by police in the United States in 2015

 

[bluesneakers]

Just another day in America.

1,091 people killed by police so far this year.
208 of them unarmed.

The Counted/ people killed by police in the United States in 2015

California is way out in front.

I wish this database offered mental illness as a search parameter.

 

[kimlynn]

Seems as though drunk drivers were a crusade with Feaster.

https://www.newsreview.com/chico/personal-mission/content?oid=6579787

“There is no way of stopping them all.”

Believe him, he’s tried.

 

[bluesneakers]

Seems as though drunk drivers were a crusade with Feaster.

https://www.newsreview.com/chico/personal-mission/content?oid=6579787

“There is no way of stopping them all.”

Believe him, he’s tried.

It's proving impossible for me to read this objectively.

He added that he thinks the law is too harsh for first-time offenders

 

[kimlynn]

I came across another article involving a high speed pursuit, rollover (drunk driver,pregnant passenger injured) where Feaster was the officer. I didn't post it due to the driver being named.
Can't find the story now, so will just say that IMO Feaster has dealt with rollover accidents in the past.
So why did this one cause him to go into a state of shock? IMO

 

[drjones]

I do not believe many aspects of this officer's story and I do not think his supervisors would buy any of it coming from anyone that was not a fellow LEO.

There would have been charges for sure.

 

[Archangel7]

He "could" approach it like this:

Likely his family uses the same roads as the drunk drivers. He mentions that the Law is too harsh for 1st time offenders.

Given the above he could find them, stop them and have them call someone, or give him a number so his dispatch can call someone to 1) drive themselves(legally) and another(legal) driver to his location, drive the drunk home and the passenger could drive the drunks car home.

Now, we have a drunk driver off the street(the goal of the Law), he can be happy with the lack of harshness and he is quickly back in service protecting the public and not spending hours out of his patrol area while arresting, towing a car, testing for alcohol, booking, etc a drunk driver.

A win win for all involved.............

 

[Montjoy]

I do not believe many aspects of this officer's story and I do not think his supervisors would buy any of it coming from anyone that was not a fellow LEO.

There would have been charges for sure.

Agreed. In the video, there is nothing to suggest any sort of a self-defense shooting. To me, it looked like an execution -- he looked as emotionless as the Terminator. And then to radio in to report that the driver refused to leave his vehicle -- a baldfaced lie, with no emotion...he could have been eating a ham sandwich while he did it.

You're right. Any non-LEO to have done that would have been locked up immediately -- and still locked up.

 

[human]

I think drunk driving should be known as attempted murder. I believe it is so in some Scandinavian country?

The average drunk driver has driven something like 800 times drunk.

But I don't think they should be executed on the spot. Maybe a year or so of treatment to deal with their demons.

 

[Archangel7]

What exactly is his story?

Just from watching the video it seems he was approaching the suspect with gun drawn and apparently his finger on the trigger.

Looked like no intent was involved, thus his actions and appearance as interpreted in this thread.

He shouldn't have had his finger in the trigger guard and by doing so and approaching, he shot the driver accidently.

Because it was obviously an accident there were no criminal charges but there will likely be civil consequences and his career will be ended.

I believe his(and other) depts. will review that issued firearm Make and Model and make changes to prevent this type of ridiculous police event.

Regardless of the moronic driver and the choices he made, it didn't warrant being shot even by accident. Very unprofessional police work.

 

[Montjoy]

I think it's difficult to say whether there was intent or not -- I don't see it as 'obviously' an accident.

But if it was an accident, why did he lie to dispatch, and attempt to cover up the shooting? That lie, on its own, should be considered a crime.

 

[Brightbird]

Why does a cop even need to pull their gun after a car crash? And why was his main concern that the male was refusing to cooperate, not that he might be seriously injured? As for shock, maybe he saw the wife fly out the window or just saw her when his gun 'accidentally' went off. I just don't think approaching a car crash with a gun aimed is good for anyone. I mean the driver is probably in shock, who knows how he'll react with a gun pointed at him.

 

[SophieRose]

http://www.krcrtv.com/news/local/man-shot-by-paradise-police-officer-dies/37050562

Andrew Thomas, the man shot by a Paradise police officer after a chase that ended in a rollover crash, is dead.

The nursing supervisor at Enloe Medical Center confirmed Thomas died at approximately 5:30 p.m. Saturday, with family at his side.