Watch Shootout Erupt During High-Speed Chase with N.Y. Police

By Ishani Desai

Source The Sacramento Bee

The Elk Grove Police Department released Thursday a video of officers fatally shooting a man this month following a pursuit in which the suspect allegedly shot at a law enforcement vehicle and rammed another.

The call began about 11:45 p.m. Feb. 1 when police officers tried to stop a man driving a Ford Explorer with no license plates near Auberry and Spengler drives in south Sacramento’s Florin neighborhood, according to the video. The area is just north of Elk Grove’s city limits.

The driver, 22-year-old Jonnie Bartholomew, did not stop and a lengthy pursuit began just north of Calvine Road. He ran multiple stop signs and wound through the residential area around Florin High School before firing his weapon, police said in an edited video news release.

Bartholomew shot at an Elk Grove police patrol vehicle behind him and shot multiple times at a Sacramento County sheriff’s deputy patrol’s car, hitting the vehicle, police said. The video release showed images of at least one bullet hole in a door of a Sheriff’s Office vehicle.

On the freeway, Bartholomew reached speeds of 100 mph before taking the 47th Street exit and turning onto Franklin Boulevard into oncoming traffic, police said.

The pursuit ended when an officer rammed his SUV into Bartholomew’s SUV at 69th Street and Lemon Hill Avenue in south Sacramento, bringing the vehicle to a stop.

Video released by police Thursday showed Bartholomew making a U-turn on Lemon Hill Avenue when an officer hit the side of his car.

Bartholomew attempted to drive again and crashed into the police officer’s SUV. The officer driving that vehicle, whose name has not been disclosed by authorities, then yelled “don’t move, hands up,” and began shooting multiple times less than a second later, the video showed.

Another officer, whose name has also not been disclosed and is described in the video text as Officer #3, also opened fire from just outside the passenger side of Bartholomew’s vehicle. The two officers fired more than 15 total shots combined, the video showed, with about 10 seconds elapsing between the police vehicle striking the SUV during the U-Turn and the final shot being fired.

The officers rendered medical aid to Bartholomew, but he died at the scene, police said.

A woman, sitting in the passenger seat, was not injured in the crossfire, police said. The video showed her screaming as glass shattered and she was yanked out of the vehicle. The video redacted the woman’s identity by blurring her face.

Thursday’s release includes body camera and vehicle dashboard camera footage. However, the body camera of the officer who fired from the passenger side “became dislodged from his vest” and fell off as that officer exited his vehicle. The body camera of the other officer stayed on, but that officer did not exit his vehicle during the shooting, and the view from that angle is partly obstructed by the closed police car door.

On-screen text included in the video release reads: “After the legal intervention maneuver, Officer #2 yelled ‘Don’t move, hands up.’ Bartholomew did not comply and drove his SUV into Officer #2’s vehicle. Officer #2 discharged his service weapon.” The dashboard video, though, shows that the officer yelled his command after Bartholomew drove into the officer’s vehicle.

The Sacramento Police Department is investigating the shooting because it happened within city limits. The case will also then be examined by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office to determine if the officers broke any laws.

The Elk Grove Police Department is also conducting an investigation to determine whether the officers complied with department policy.

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