By Monica S. Nagy
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
SAGINAW, Texas — Saginaw police late Wednesday released dash-camera video of a 25-year-old man who attacked two police officers and residents of a neighborhood Saturday night before he was fatally shot by a police officer.
The man, Michael Brown, 25, was shot in chest, the Tarrant County medical examiner’s office reported.
Sgt. Damon Ing, the Saginaw police spokesman, said two officers deployed Tasers at Brown, which did not stop him. A third officer fired four times, at least one of which was the fatal shot.
Officers were first dispatched to the 700 block of Meadowdale Drive just before 10 p.m. Saturday where a man was reported to be assaulting people and damaging cars, Ing said.
A neighbor’s surveillance camera caught Brown slamming his fists and head into a parked truck, Ing said.
An elderly man stepped out of his house when he heard the commotion, and Brown struck him in the face and threw him to the ground. He then threw the wife to the ground and started beating her, which sent her to the intensive care unit of a hospital where she remained Wednesday night, Ing said.
The first officer to arrive, P.S. Navarro, 30, found Brown at 900 N. Old Decatur Road where he “appeared agitated and was walking southbound in the northbound traffic lanes,” according to an extensive news release the department posted to Facebook.
Navarro “retreated” from Brown by backing up his car, but Brown continued “running/jogging” toward him.
At some point, he took his shirt off, Ing said.
Navarro got out of his patrol car and started “backpedaling” with his Taser drawn while Brown “chases him around the car,” according to the release.
Navarro attempted to retreat and deployed his Taser, but Brown kept coming. The two struggled and the officer was “beaten and knocked to the ground.”
Two people stopped to help Navarro. The first was knocked to the ground; the second distracted Brown until two officers, D.W. Garretson, 32, and J.R. Stone, 36, arrived, the news release said.
At one point, Stone yelled, “Let me see your hands,” but the officers could not “gain compliance” from Brown.
Garretson deployed a second Taser, and Stone fired four shots from his service weapon, a .45-caliber Glock. At least one shot hit Brown, who was pronounced dead at John Peter Smith Hospital in Fort Worth, police said.
He did not have a weapon, Ing said.
Navarro and Stone were treated at a hospital and released that night.
Garretson returned to work on Sunday. He has six years’ police experience and has been on the Saginaw force since January 2010. He is a U.S. Navy veteran.
Stone has 4 1/2 years of law enforcement experience and has been a Saginaw officer since December 2015. He served in the military and was an Army Ranger.
Navarro has 4 1/2 years police experience and started working for Saginaw in July 2013.
Both are still on medical leave.
Ing said Brown destroyed a significant amount of property in one household and vandalized several cars on Meadowdale.
“All of this is going to add up to more than a couple thousand dollars,” Ing said.
He said it appears Brown is not from Saginaw, and investigators have not determined why he was in the neighborhood or how he got there.
The department is awaiting results of Brown’s toxicology tests.
Copyright 2016 the Fort Worth Star-Telegram