BODY CAM: New Lebanon officer says he shot man twice from the back

NEW LEBANON — Body camera footage released Friday shows a New Lebanon police officer shoot a man during a traffic stop on Franklin Street earlier this month.

The video obtained through a public records request by News Center 7 shows the officer pull over a woman for driving on a closed road and having expired license plates around 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 10.

>>Ohio BCI: New Lebanon police shooting could take weeks or months

After initially talking to the female driver and a male front passenger, the officer returns to his cruiser for about four minutes. A man in the back seat of the car does not appear to say anything.

The names of those people in the car have not been released. News Center 7 requested police reports from New Lebanon police the day of the shooting.

After returning to the car, the officer is heard asking the front seat male passenger to exit the vehicle and place his hands on the roof, so the officer can perform a patdown.

During the patdown, the officer spots a gun around 12:37 a.m.

“Don’t you move. Don’t you move. I’ve got a gun,” the officer says. “Dude, I will freaking shoot you if you move. You got me?”

The man asks the officer, “Did I say anything?”

The officer then asks for help from other officers.

“Don’t move I’ve got my gun in you back,” the officer tells the man.

“That means what?” the man asked the officer.

At 12:38 a.m. a scuffle is seen on the video and shots are fired by the officer.

“Shots fired. One down,” the officer says.

Help from a neighboring department arrives within minutes and that officer helps take the other two who were in the vehicle into custody.

After more help arrives the officer who fired the shots explains what he said happened.

“He was going for that gun,” the officer said. “He was shot from the back.”

The officer said he fired two shots.

The man was taken to an area hospital for treatment and his condition has not been released.

The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is the independent agency investigating the police shooting and said it could take several weeks or months until the investigation is finished.

The officer involved in the shooting was not identified but has been with New Lebanon’s Police Department for 15 years, Police Chief Rickey Daulton said. The officer has been placed on paid administrative duty.

A public records request for that officer’s name and personnel file have not yet been fulfilled by New Lebanon city officials.

Cox Media Group