Why Lexington police say they can’t release video of man hit by police cruiser
Lexington police have refused to release body camera footage of a man having a mental crisis who was hit by a Lexington police officer last week.
Lexington police said a 19-year-old man ran into the road on March 30 and was struck by an officer arriving on the scene near Larkspur Drive in the Garden Springs area, police said. A social worker had called 911 and said the man verbally threatened — over the phone — to harm his caseworker, police said.
The man threatened officers and was holding a knife when they arrived to do a welfare check, according to police.. The man then fled on foot and was struck by a police officer in a cruiser who was arriving on the scene.
Lexington police have denied open records requests by the Lexington Herald-Leader and other media outlets for body camera footage from officers who responded to the scene.
Police denied the request to the Herald-Leader because “Prematurely releasing documentation prior to the closure of that investigation may lead to sensitive and/or intimate details becoming public. This could cause potential hazards, including but not being limited to: tainting potential witness testimony and/or making it difficult to locate cooperative witnesses for fear of retaliation,” according to an April 2 letter from the department.
Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers told the Lexington council during a Tuesday meeting that the accident was still under investigation. Releasing the video now would be premature, he said.
“I don’t expect that to take very long,” Weathers said of the investigation into the collision.
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Councilman James Brown said he has received questions from the public about why the video has not been released. Brown also asked if the man’s family members have been allowed to view the body-camera video.
Weathers said the family of the man will be able to view the video prior to it being publicly released.
Police and prosecutors have also not released body-camera footage of a July 31 police shooting of Darion Worfolk. Worfolk was shot by Lexington police officer Miller Owens. After the shooting, Worfolk was charged with trafficking cocaine, evading police, menacing and being a convicted felon in possession of a handgun.
Police and prosecutors say the video cannot be released because it is an active criminal case, despite initial promises after the shooting that the video would be publicly disclosed.
Officers were called to East Fifth Street and Chestnut Street on the night of July 31 for a report of a man with a gun. They located Worfolk when they arrived at the scene, police have said.
Worfolk didn’t comply with the initial responding officer’s commands and ran away, police said. Worfolk was shot in the hip on the front side of his body. A gun was recovered at the scene but it’s not clear if Worfolk was holding the gun at the time he was shot by Owens.
When police choose to release body-camera footage has been questioned by activists pushing for more police accountability. During last summer’s racial justice protests, police released body camera footage of protesters. Yet police and prosecutors repeatedly deny requests for body-camera footage when an officer’s conduct is in question, activists have said.
This story was originally published April 7, 2021 at 10:06 AM.
