Dashcam Video Shows Fort Worth Officer Shooting At Fleeing Suspect
ARLINGTON (CBSDFW.COM) - Police dash camera video shows what happened the moment an officer fired her weapon into a suspect's car. The decision cost Fort Worth rookie Lina Mino her job.
Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald fired Mino last month, saying her decision to discharge her weapon was a misuse of deadly force, because the driver she pulled over did not pose a threat.
Newly released video from a police patrol car shows the moment it happened. The single gunshot can be heard in the dash cam video.
According to the Fort Worth Police Officer's Association, when Mino realized the driver had a felony warrant out of for his arrest, he refused to put the car in park and instead drove off. That's when Mino pulled out her police-issued gun and fired into the car, missing the driver and his passenger.
No one was hurt.
In the video, the suspect can be seen jumping out of the car and running away. He hid in a nearby home, surprising the family who lives there.
"Never thought we'd ever have this experience," said Valerie Perez. "I came from the store grocery shopping, a regular Sunday, and the next thing we know this happens, and we're just watching our house have cops all over the place."
Perez says the suspect was hiding in her family's home and offered her brother-in-law money to keep quiet. Police quickly caught up with the suspect and arrested him.
The Officer's Association says Mino's firing was rushed and uncalled for. Since she was terminated before her one year of service mark, she cannot appeal the firing.
