Suspect shot by California cop after pursuit had gold lighter that looked like gun, video shows
Body-worn camera footage released Monday shows a San Diego police officer shoot and wound a driver who allegedly reached for an imitation firearm while officers were telling him to surrender in the La Presa neighborhood of Spring Valley earlier this year.
San Diego police Officer Henry Ingram Jr. shot Edwaun Thames, 39, after a 10-minute chase that ended in a crash near Jamacha Road and Gillespie Drive on Jan. 22, investigators said.
Thames survived his injuries and was arrested on suspicion of evading, possession of a stolen vehicle and vehicle theft. The firearm found at the scene was later determined to be a gold lighter manufactured to appear as a revolver.
The county Sheriff’s Office is handling the investigation under a reciprocal agreement with San Diego police, so neither department investigates its own officers or deputies.
Monday’s release includes footage from two body-worn cameras, including the camera worn by Ingram, and is more than seven minutes long. Previously, investigators had released 90 seconds of footage showing the body-worn camera footage recorded by Ingram.
The new edited video begins by saying that on the day of the shooting, San Diego police received a report of a stolen vehicle around 12:40 p.m. at the intersection of Euclid and Imperial Avenues.
Around 1:30 p.m., an automated license plate reader flagged the stolen vehicle at the same location, according to the video.
An officer spotted the vehicle, and text in the video said the driver, later identified as 39-year-old Edwaun Thames, briefly stopped before speeding away.
Officers laid down spike strips in the car’s path, popping both front tires, although the car continued east to Jamacha Road.
Thames ran through stop signs and multiple red lights before crashing into a light pole and coming to a stop, the video said.
Thames exited his disabled vehicle, dropped what appeared to be a gun onto the ground, and was ordered to get on the ground and surrender. Ingram arrived, withdrew his service weapon and approached Thames, the video showed.
One officer asked if the gun Thames dropped as he exited the vehicle was a real gun and pulled out a Taser while Ingram continued to have his gun trained on Thames.
Thames dropped to his knees, near the imitation firearm on the ground.
“If you reach for that gun, you’re going to get shot,” Ingram yelled out to Thames. “Do not reach for that gun, do not reach for that gun.”
Thames appeared to reach in the direction of the gun while on his knees. Ingram then opened fire three times, striking Thames, who fell to the ground.
He was taken to a hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries, investigators said.
An officer at the scene was injured by shattered glass when the light pole fell onto the police patrol vehicle, San Diego police spokesperson Officer Colin Steinbroner said at the time of the shooting.
In the aftermath of the shooting, video was posted on social media, and commenters raised concerns about police opening fire on a man who appeared in the video to be surrendering. Investigators then took the highly unusual step of releasing their own footage just hours after the shooting in hopes of clearing up the concerns raised online.
Ingram has been with the Police Department for two years and has worked in law enforcement for nine years. He is currently assigned to patrol at the Southeastern Division.