Video: LAPD Officers Use Taser, Beanbag Shotgun, Service Weapons To Subdue Homeless Man In Venice
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Body cam video of a recent shooting of a homeless man in Venice Beach shows LAPD officers using a taser, a beanbag shotgun and their service weapons in order to keep him from advancing on them with a wooden plank.
The video released Monday shows the fraught and dangerous interactions between LAPD officers and just one member of the city's growing homeless population.
Officers were called to Pacific Avenue and Thornton Court in Venice on Aug. 14 to check on a 911 call about a homeless man screaming and acting aggressively. When they arrived, they found the suspect – 37-year-old John Penny – armed with a glass bottle.
Penny repeatedly refused to put down the bottle, and officers deployed a taser, but police say it appeared the darts did not hit Penny. Police say Penny then picked up a three-foot-long wooden plank and advanced again on the officers, who opened fire with their service weapons and a beanbag shot gun.
Penny was struck in the left arm and left thigh by the gunfire. He was treated at the scene then taken to Westwood Medical Center. He has since been arrested and is being held on $100,000 bail.
A three-foot wooden plank was recovered at the scene.
No officers were injured.