Chilling bodycam footage shows the moment a Houston cop screams as he drives his cruiser with one hand before mounting a sidewalk and killing a 62-year-old pedestrian. Officer Orlando Hernandez, 25, who was riding with his partner were helping another cop to nab a suspect who had run away and were dodging other vehicles on the road when the accident happened.
Hernandez was driving at up to 100 mph in a 40-mph zone to respond to a call to back up other cops last month when he mounted the sidewalk and slammed into pedestrian Michael Wayne Jackson, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Chilling Moment
The dramatic bodycam footage shows Hernandez driving his cruiser with his partner Anthony Aranda, 25, around 5:40 pm on December 4. He can be seen turning the steering wheel almost 180 degrees to dodge the other cars and.
Hernandez was helping one of his colleagues who was already chasing a suspect who had run away in Houston. However, the footage reveals that Hernandez soon loses control in an attempt to swerve the other vehicles out of the way and jumps the sidewalk.
And then he can be heard screaming "S**t! F**k!" as eh hits Jackson. The windscreen of the cruiser immediately gets shattered due to the impact, while Hernandez can still be heard yelling "F**k, f**k."
The next moment cops can be heard rushing out of the cruiser and to the mortally injured pedestrian on the ground. "Sir. Sir," Hernandez can be heard saying before he radios police headquarters and says: 'I need HFD here. I just got wrecked out, uh, Scott and Reed."
"One male patient is going to be knocked unconscious, not breathing, uh, bleeding from the head."
Desperate Efforts
The footage shows how remorseful Hernandez is immediately after mortally hitting Jackson. He desperately tries to help him and makes all efforts possible.
It is not known what was the speed of the vehicle when he hit Jackson but just before he was swerving drastically to avoid hitting other cars, footage showed his speedometer hit 60mph.
However, despite all help, Jackson couldn't be saved. Other officers who responded to the scene can be seen performing CPR on Jackson before the video cuts out. He was already bleeding profusely and was unconscious and was later declared dead at the scene.
Following the incident both Hernandez and Aranda were placed on administrative duty pending a department investigation, which has not yet been concluded.
The incident is being investigated HPD Internal Affairs Division and the Harris County District Attorney's Office. President of the Houston Police Officers' Union called the crash a 'tragic accident'.
Tamica Burns, Jackson's stepdaughter, said she believes the Houston Police Department should pay for his funeral costs as worrying about finances is adding to her mother's grief.
