Body-cam footage of a police-involved shooting that left an unarmed man dead in October was released by the NYPD late Friday — and shows a hectic struggle between three cops and an SUV driver.
The video shows the moments that led up to Allan Feliz’s death and shows how a routine traffic stop turned into a life-and-death struggle between Feliz and the three officers involved.
On Oct. 17, Officer Edward Barrett, Sergeant Johnathan Rivera and Officer Michelle Almanzar pulled over Feliz in his 2018 Volkswagen Atlas on Bainbridge Avenue near East 211th Street in the Bronx at about 3 p.m. because they believed the men inside weren’t wearing seatbelts, the video shows.
Barrett approaches the driver-side window and asks Feliz for his license and registration, while Almanzar stands behind him and Rivera waits on the passenger side.
“What’s the problem?” Feliz is heard asking Barrett, who tells him he just wants to see his license.
Barrett then asks him where he was headed and what he was doing in the Bronx, the video shows. Feliz explains he was on the way to Washington Heights to “pick up his daughter” and had just left his girlfriend’s house.
Both Feliz and his passenger were wearing their seatbelts, but when Barrett ran the driver’s license, he noticed an open warrant and asked Feliz to step out of the vehicle.
“Hey let me talk to you real quick,” Barrett tells Feliz.
“You’re not in trouble man but I just gotta talk to you.”
Barrett patted Feliz down and the 31-year-old went back to sit inside the car — but suddenly starts to drive away, police claim.
Suddenly, a violent struggle ensues with Rivera deploying a taser from the passenger side window, causing Feliz to howl in pain. Barrett then attempts to pull Feliz from the car.
That’s when Rivera enters the car from the passenger side with his gun in his hand, the video shows.
“Yo if I have to end up f—king shooting you bro,” Rivera yells as Feliz continues to scream.
“Yo bro I’m going to fucking shoot you,” Rivera says while Barrett yells for Feliz to “put it in park, put it in park.”
Meanwhile, Feliz’s terrified passenger is begging Rivera not to hurt him.
“Please don’t shoot me, please don’t shoot me,” the passenger begs as Rivera and Barrett continue to struggle with Feliz, hitting him with the taser and punching him, respectively.
At some point before Rivera fired the single shot that killed Feliz, Barrett’s body camera is knocked to the ground and crushed by a car.
Rivera’s body-cam also cut off before he fired his gun and police believe it was accidentally switched off during the tussle, the video states.
Almanzar’s camera is the only one that captures the shooting, but only the audio of the gunshot could be heard.
Towards the end of the cop’s footage, her and Barrett suddenly jump away from the vehicle.
“Yo! Yo!” Almanzar screams.
“Oh my god! Sarg!” she yells just before the single gunshot rings out.
While the body-cam footage does not clearly show the car moving, video obtained by News 12 shows the car jerking forward and zooming backwards, causing Barrett and Almanzar to jump out of the way before Rivera opens fire.
The incident is currently under investigation by the New York State Attorney General, which investigates all police-involved shootings of unarmed people.
Feliz’s family are also planning a multimillion-dollar wrongful death lawsuit.
“The NYPD force investigation division, along with the office of the New York State Attorney General, will continue to investigate and analyze this incident as more interviews are conducted and forensic tests are completed,” police spokesman Sgt. Carlos Nieves says in the video after the body-cam footage is finished.
“After the investigation is complete, the facts of the case will be presented to the first deputy commissioner’s use of force review board where the evidence will be evaluated to determine if the use of force applied in this case, was justified and within department guidelines.”
