By Andrew Kramer, The Associated Press
A 28-year-old black man shot and killed by police was pulled over for failing to use his turn signal at least 100 feet before turning, Chief Derrick Foxworth said Monday.
A preliminary investigation showed that James Jahar Perez was not armed when he was shot while sitting in his car at about 5 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of a coin-operated laundry in north Portland, Foxworth said.
It was the second time in a year that Portland police have shot an unarmed black person during a traffic stop. The shooting of 21-year-old Kendra James last May touched off an intense round of criticism of the city’s police force, and was broadly seen as a factor in the resignation of former police chief Mark Kroeker. The incident also brought promises from the department to improve policies for using deadly force.
Officers Jason Sery, 29, and Sean Macomber, 30, who are white, followed Perez as he made the turn into the parking lot and then approached his Mitsubishi car from the driver’s side.
Perez told the pair he did not have a license or an identification card, according to Foxworth’s account. He then resisted arrest, Foxworth said.
Macomber apparently tried to either restrain Perez in his seat or pull him from the open door.
“Officer Macomber came into physical contact with Mr. Perez in an effort to take him into custody,” Foxworth said, reading from a prepared statement that he acknowledged was short on details or clear explanation. “During the struggle, the other officer, Officer Sery, fired multiple shots at Perez, striking him in the mid-body area.”
Assistant Chief James Ferraris said the “physical contact” mentioned by Foxworth was between Macomber and “Mr. Perez’ arm.”
After Sery shot Perez several times, the officers called for medical assistance. Perez was pronounced dead in the car, and his body remained in the driver’s seat as police taped off the area and began an investigation.
Perez lived near the parking lot where he died, and his mother made her way there within minutes, said Margaret Carter, an Oregon state senator who attended the police briefing Monday. “She was just blown away feeling that he had not done anything to deserve this,” Carter said.
It was not immediately clear whether Sery and Macomber knew Perez was the driver when they approached the car, Foxworth said. Perez has a long criminal record, including counts for being a convict in possession of a firearm.
Another aspect of the encounter that is still poorly understood is when the two officers fired a stun gun. Foxworth said it was either before, during or after Perez was shot.
Both officers have been placed on paid administrative leave.
Police guidelines say officers can use lethal force only in self defense or to protect another person, or to prevent the escape of a suspect they believe may later kill somebody.
A preliminary search of the victim’s car did not turn up any weapons, Foxworth said.
The death comes just months after the bureau promised reforms following the James shooting.
After that death, Officer Scott McCollister said he fired the fatal shot because he feared he would be dragged by James’ car as she tried to drive away from a traffic stop. He was cleared of wrongdoing by a grand jury but suspended without pay for 5 1/2 months because of tactical decisions he made before the shooting.
James’ family has filed a $10 million wrongful death suit over the shooting.
Roy Jay, President of the African American Chamber of Commerce, said the two deaths have tainted the city’s reputation among blacks, and that black business people from as far away as California called to vent about the Portland police.
“This does not make us look good,” he said. “It does not make us look like a harmonious city. It doesn’t look like a city trying to overcome its problem.”
Foxworth, who is black, struck a more reassuring note.
He said the department has implemented several recommendations made by outside consultants and citizen review boards after the James shooting. Some procedures were used Sunday, he said.
Sery and Macomber were separated and told not to compare stories before their interviews with homicide detectives, a change in policy after the James shooting. And while McCollister was not interviewed until days after the shooting, Sery was interviewed Monday, Foxworth said.