Police Report, Video of Sam DuBose's Death Don't Sync

Officer Ray Tensing's body cam suggests he wasn't dragged
By Elizabeth Armstrong Moore,  Newser Staff
Posted Jul 30, 2015 4:32 AM CDT
Updated Jul 30, 2015 6:34 AM CDT

Video has been released from the body camera of University of Cincinnati police officer Ray Tensing, and it doesn't square with the official police report. The officer, 25, allegedly pulled over unarmed 43-year-old Sam DuBose for a missing license plate on July 19, and after spending less than two minutes going back and forth over whether DuBose had his license on him, DuBose was dead of a gunshot to the head. Tensing claims to have been dragged by DuBose's car and feared for his life, but his body cam suggests that the car didn't move until the moment DuBose was shot, at which point DuBose's foot likely hit the accelerator, reports USA Today. DuBose appears to be neither aggressive nor belligerent, and his last words were, "I didn't even do nothing."

In the video, now on YouTube, Tensing orders DuBose to take off his seatbelt, at which point DuBose puts his left hand on the window frame and his right hand turns the key in the ignition. Tensing yells "stop," pulls out his weapon, and shoots DuBose once in the head, then runs after the rolling car and looks inside to see DuBose dead. While running after the car, which ended up in a ditch at the end of the street, he says: "I think I'm OK. I'm OK. He was dragging me. I thought I was going to get run over." His lawyer says he feared for his life. Meanwhile, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters continues his damning tirade against Tensing, reports Gawker. "This is, in the vernacular, a pretty chicken-crap stop, all right?” Deters says. "I’ve been doing this for 30 years. This is the most asinine act I’ve ever seen a police officer make, totally unwarranted." (Tensing has been indicted on murder charges.)

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