Burger King Manager: 86 Minutes of Laquan Video Is MIA

He told grand jury huge chunk of footage disappeared after cops reviewed video
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 30, 2015 8:43 AM CST
Burger King Manager: 86 Minutes of Laquan Video Is MIA
This undated photo provided by his family shows Laquan McDonald.   (Courtesy of the Family via AP)

At least five different videos—including the disturbing dashcam video that shows Laquan McDonald being shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke—have emerged in the 17-year-old's killing, but some important footage is missing, a Burger King district manager tells the Chicago Tribune. Jay Darshane says he was "trying to help the police with their investigation" when officers showed up right after the Oct. 20, 2014, shooting at his restaurant, which WGN notes is located about 50 yards from where the fatal shots were fired. Darshane says the BK's assistant district manager called him that night to tell him there were "four or five" officers asking to review the eatery's surveillance video. Darshane gave the OK, and cops holed up with the tape for nearly two hours, he says—but when they left, there was an "inexplicable 86-minute gap," from 9:13pm to 10:39pm, that included when Laquan was shot, the Tribune notes.

"I didn't know they were going to delete it," Darshane says, adding that he testified about the missing video earlier this year in front of a grand jury. But State's Attorney Anita Alvarez has said there's no forensic evidence to back up claims the tape was erased on purpose, and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy says those claims are "absolutely untrue" and that there were "apparently technical difficulties." The Tribune notes that the surveillance camera probably wouldn't have had the vantage point to show Laquan's shooting, but it may have depicted some of the teen's movements right before. And an attorney for Laquan's family poses a question. "It is curious," he says. "If [the officers] got there and turned it on and found that there was no video, what were they looking at for two hours?" (A protest against Laquan's shooting tried to halt Black Friday shopping.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X