Elijah McClain: Gas station owner takes the stand in Colorado trial for 2 officers
Prosecutors in Adams County Court on Tuesday were taking the jurors in the trial of a former Aurora police officer and a suspended Aurora police officer to the minutes leading up to when Elijah McClain was confronted by Jason Rosenblatt, Randy Rodema, and others. The 23-year-old Black massage therapist was put in a neck hold and injected by paramedics with the sedative ketamine and after the interaction suffered cardiac arrest on the way to the hospital and was pronounced dead three days later.
The case that became a rallying cry for protests and spurred police reform.
Roedema and Rosenblatt are both charged with criminally negligent homicide.
A video was played in court Tuesday showing McClain inside a Shell gas station buying iced tea. He bows as he leaves the store in the video.
A defense attorney asked the gas station owner about the man.
"It is 10:30 at night and an individual walks in with a coat in August, the face is covered with a face mask so you can barely see his eyes -- you are telling me that wouldn't give you pause for concern? The store owner replied, "No, it all depends on the persons, demeanor."
Then the 911 call made by a concerned citizen was played for the jury. In part, the jurors heard: "So there's a guy, he's walking. Let's see. What's the opposite of north? It's -- south, yeah. He's walking south on Billings Street. He has a mask on."
"And then when I passed by him, he puts his hands up and does all these kinds of signs. I don't know. He looks sketchy."
"He might be a good person or a bad person."
The call was dispatched as a suspicious person. A short time later the officers on trial and others would meet McClain.
The trial will resume on Wednesday with a police dispatcher on the witness stand.
This trial is the first of several trials stemming from McClain's death. A third officer and two paramedics are also charged in McClain's death and are scheduled for trial later this year.
