A Washington state police officer was temporarily put on leave after his patrol vehicle passed a crowd of pedestrians on Saturday night, reports The Tacoma News-Tribune.
In images provided to the newspaper by an eyewitness, the patrol vehicle can be seen approaching a group of pedestrians who would have gathered at an intersection in downtown Tacoma to watch a street race.
As the vehicle approached the intersection, more people could be seen walking towards it. The vehicle can then be seen retreating before accelerating through the crowd, apparently hitting some people.
According to the local newspaper, a person was sent to the hospital after the incident.
“There were several vehicles and approximately 100 people present blocking the intersection when the police arrived at the scene. The Tacoma police officers who responded to the scene began to clean up the intersection of vehicles and people for the safety of the assembled and people trying to use the street, ”the Tacoma Police Department told the newspaper.
“During the operation, a Tacoma police vehicle was surrounded by the crowd,” continued the department. The agency said that “people hit the body of the police vehicle and its windows when the police officer was stopped on the street”.
“The officer, fearing for his safety, tried to retreat, but failed because of the crowd. The policeman had his lights and sirens activated, “said the office, adding:” When trying to get rid of an unsafe position, the policeman advanced by hitting an individual and may have impacted others. “
The department said it had handed over the investigation to the county authorities.
In a statement to the newspaper, interim police chief Mike Ake said he was concerned that the department “is experiencing another incident of the use of lethal force”.
“I send my thoughts to all the injured at tonight’s event and I am committed to our Department’s full cooperation in independent investigation and to assessing the department’s response actions during the incident,” he added.
The department faced scrutiny amid weeks of protests against police brutality following the death of Manuel Ellis last March.
Ellis, a black man, died at the age of 33 in Tacoma. The Pierce County Medical Examiner’s Office considered his death a homicide after discovering that he died of respiratory arrest caused by physical restraint after local police arrested him on the handcuffed floor.
– Updated at 9h12