Bodycam video shows Houston cop speeding, driving with 1 hand before hitting and killing pedestrian with patrol car

Houston Police Department Newly released body-camera footage shows the high-speed moments before a Houston cop drove his police cruiser onto a sidewalk Dec. 4 and killed 62-year-old Michael Wayne Jackson, who was walking to his barber. Prosecutors have yet to present the case to a grand jury, Harris County district attorney's office spokesperson Dane Schiller said Monday. On Dec. 30, the Houston Police Department released two video clips from bodycams worn by driving officer Orlando Hernandez and his partner officer Anthony Aranda. Both officers are 25 years old with fewer than five years on the force and currently are listed as active duty, according to an HPD spokesperson.

Hernandez at times drove the 6,300-pound Ford Police Intercepter between 80 and 100 mph down Reed Road, according to the cruiser's speedometer shown in a five-minute clip from his bodycam. Traffic on Reed Road is limited to 40 mph. The cops were driving with lights and siren activated to help another officer apprehend five individuals allegedly involved in a carjacking who reportedly fled on foot after a short pursuit.

Reed Road was wet from a recent rain shower that Saturday afternoon, according to a crash report filed by HPD. Video shows the cruiser's windshield wipers were activated as Hernandez maneuvered the police SUV through traffic, appearing on multiple occasions to be using only one hand to steer the speeding vehicle over slick residential roads. As Hernandez approached a red light at Cullen Boulevard, he slowed down to check for cross traffic before continuing west toward Scott Street.

Jackson was walking west on the sidewalk in the 4100 block of Reed Road near Scott Street as Hernandez's cruiser approached from the east around 5:40 p.m. Several cars were stopped at a red light at the Reed Road and Scott Street intersection, police said. As Hernandez sped toward the intersection, video shows the officer turn the steering wheel nearly 180 degrees to avoid colliding with other cars. Hernandez's cruiser slid slightly right, jumping the sidewalk and hitting Jackson before slamming into a Dumpster bin in a nearby parking lot.

Body-cam video indicates that Hernandez hit Jackson about 34 seconds after passing through the intersection at Cullen Boulevard, a distance of 3,755 feet, according to information compiled from Google Maps and a diagram from HPD's crash report. This distance would suggest Hernandez traveled at an average speed of 75 mph before he drove onto the sidewalk. In a frame before Hernandez attempted to turn the wheel, the cruiser's speedometer showed 60 mph.

Houston police have not released any other findings from their investigation, including any telemetry data from the cruiser's computer regarding the cruiser's actual speed and if/when Hernandez applied the brakes. Crash investigators with HPD's vehicular crimes division noted in a crash report that Hernandez was "traveling at an unsafe speed" and "performed a faulty evasive action."

In the moments after the crash, video shows Hernandez and Aranda ran to Jackson as witnesses screamed and music played from a nearby restaurant. The video also captured sirens from nearby HPD officers who also rushing to assist in the manhunt.

"I need HFD here," Hernandez radioed to dispatch. "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."

"Sir, sir, sir," Hernandez said as he shook Jackson's lifeless body. "Wake up, sir."

Another officer who arrived seconds after the collision ordered Hernandez to start chest compressions, at which point the released video ends. Paramedics with the Houston Fire Department arrived minutes later and pronounced Jackson dead.

In the days after the crash, the victim's brother speculated that the officer behind the wheel was ill-trained.

"It looks like to me, maybe the guys couldn't drive that well," Timothy Jackson said. "They just weren't ready. Their skill level in pursuits maybe wasn't that good, because they came out of the street onto the sidewalk. They put anybody that's on the sidewalk in danger."

Doug Griffith, president of the Houston Police Officers' Union, called the collision a "tragic accident."

"Officers were responding to an assist while chasing robbery suspects," Griffith said in a text message. "It's my belief that the officers left the road to avoid a collision and never saw the citizen. Truly sad for all involved."

Houston police have yet to close the case, and it is unclear if prosecutors will pursue charges against Hernandez. For both officers, a preliminary 3-day placement on administrative duties has already tolled.