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Video: Suspect rams 2 police cars before deadly shooting

Police had blocked in the robbery suspect’s vehicle when the suspect slammed into the cruisers

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Hayward (Calif.) Police Department

By Rick Hurd
East Bay Times

HAYWARD, Calif. — Body cameras worn by police officers and security video from a motel in Hayward show a fatal police shooting earlier this year and the moments leading up to it.

Police released the videos last week as part of the investigation into the death of 22-year-old Caleb Smith, of Oakland, on March 16 at the Motel 6 in the 30000 block of Industrial Parkway.

The video shows that all three police officers who responded to the hotel fired shots. Smith later died at a hospital after exiting the car following several police commands to do so.

Hayward police in a statement released with the video footage said they had withheld it previously to “preserve the integrity of the investigation in the interest of justice for all parties involved.” The statement said police were now sharing it so they “can remain as transparent with the community as possible, even as we continue to investigate the matter.”

Police had been investigating a dozen violent robberies in the area in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting. The robberies mostly targeted elderly women returning to their cars after leaving a bank or using an ATM. Often, the suspects physically assaulted the victims and took their purses, police said. In several incidents, the suspects smashed vehicle windows to take purses from inside.

Video released by police captures one such robbery in a Hesperian Boulevard parking lot. That video showed a blue Volvo with a white passenger-side rearview mirror, a vehicle that was seen at other robberies.

On March 16, Ofc. Michael Miller, Ofc. Christopher Suozzo and Ofc. Dynaton Tran located the same blue Volvo with three occupants inside it in the parking lot of the Motel 6, police said.

Video released by police shows that as two unmarked cars park in front of the Volvo to block it in, the Volvo’s driver responds by driving toward the cars. The Volvo then backs up into the wall of the motel, and surges forward again. It strikes the police vehicles more than once.

“This is when the officer-involved shooting occurred,” Hayward Police Chief Toney Chaplin said in a videotaped statement released with the videos.

The video shows officers loudly and clearly yelling for Smith to put his hands up. The video indicates at least three shots were fired.

Video includes graphic footage. Viewer discretion is advised.

Chaplin said officers later treated Smith at the scene before an ambulance arrived, though the video released does not show that part of the incident. A man and woman inside the car were not injured and were detained, police said. An officer also was hospitalized for minor injuries, police said.

In the statement, police said they believe Smith was involved in at least one of 12 known robberies in the city since December, as well as others in other Bay Area cities.

“We are still in the process of conducting this investigation and our understanding of this incident may change as additional information is obtained,” Chaplin said. “When we have an officer-involved shooting, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office reviews the actions of the police officers. The Hayward Police Department also will conduct a review of the incident and determine if there were any policy violations. We take the use of force very seriously, and we are sharing this information before the investigation is complete.”

Chaplin added that the department will not draw any conclusions until they’ve finished the investigation

(c)2021 the Contra Costa Times (Walnut Creek, Calif.)

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