San Diego police on Monday released body camera footage of an incident involving a sexual assault suspect in the Bay Terraces neighborhood that led to gunshots but no injuries last week.
The 13-minute video released Monday started with the 911 call reporting a sexual assault that prompted officers to respond to an apartment complex in the neighborhood just north of state Route 54 at about 7:30 p.m. on July 7. It ends with the suspect, identified as Maurice Dwight Littlejohn, 43, in custody after an officer fired shots at him for pulling out what turned out to be a cell phone.
What the SDPD-released video shows
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Body camera footage shows two officers arrive at the scene and confront a man in a red shirt holding a cane. An officer tells the man to "drop the cane" or he will be Tased. Once the man drops the cane, the officer orders him to turn around because he is being detained, at which point the man says "I'm not being detained" and starts jogging backward.
At this point, the man can be seen pulling an object out of his pocket, which an officer says is a knife. The officer then deploys his Taser but the man is able to quickly get free, video shows.
The man takes off running through the complex with two officers behind on foot.
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The body camera video becomes blurry amid the action, but an SDPD officer can be heard shouting "Stop reaching," towards the man. That's quickly followed by "he's reaching" and two shots fired. Slowed down video of the moment shows the man turn towards officers with an object in hand. That turns out to be a cell phone, San Diego police said.
The shots don't hit the suspect, who continues on foot to the main thoroughfare of Meadowbook Drive. Three officers are able to contact the man and take him to him to the ground, where a struggle ensues.
Eventually, the man is detained.
Police said suffered minor injuries and was treated before being booked into San Diego Central Jail on charges of assault, two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and using violence to resist arrest. It is unclear if any of the charges are in connection with the alleged sexual assault officers initially responded to.
No other injuries were reported.
The officers involved in the altercation were not identified.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department, which investigates police shootings in the San Diego jurisdiction, was called to conduct an investigation, which will be reviewed by the District Attorney's Office. SDPD's internal affairs unit conducts its own investigation, which is reviewed by the Shooting Review Board.
