Bodycam captures final, frantic moments before Ceres officers fire on pickup driver
Bodycam video shows a frantic scene as two Ceres officers roar commands to a driver whose pickup was pinned between a parked pickup and a police vehicle early on a Sunday morning in October 2017.
The driver guns his engine, the rear tires spin furiously, kicking up dust and debris. The officers feared the driver would escape and for their safety. The incident ends quickly when the two officers, standing several feet away, fire their handguns repeatedly into the pickup. The driver would die.
Ceres on Tuesday night released body camera footage from another officer that captures the shooting of 27-year-old Modesto resident Nicholas Pimentel. He had led Ceres police on a dangerous, high-speed chase Oct. 22, 2017, that started in Ceres and ended in south Modesto.
The footage is among the final records Ceres released in response to a Modesto Bee public records act request seeking records under Senate Bill 1421. The law took effect Jan. 1, and makes public for the first time police records regarding use of force, dishonesty and sexual assault by officers.
The footage is from Ceres officer Jessica Graham. She arrived just before officer Ross Bays and Sgt. Darren Venn started shooting. Graham wrote in a report that she did not draw her weapon or fire because she was not in position to do so and could not see inside the pickup.
Venn was not wearing his body camera, and Bays’ camera did not activate as it was supposed to when he turned on the emergency lights in his patrol vehicle. Bays told investigators he turned his camera on after the shooting when he noticed it was not on.
Venn had pulled Pimentel over for speeding about 1 a.m. at Whitmore Avenue and Crows Landing Road. Pimentel then drove off, leading Venn and Bays on an eight-mile, nine-minute pursuit that reached speeds of more than 100 mph.
The pursuit ended at Imperial Avenue and Ustick Road in south Modesto when Venn hit Pimentel’s pickup, causing it to spin out. As Venn got out of his patrol vehicle, Pimentel put the pickup in reverse and backed toward him.
Venn got back into his vehicle and braced for the impact. But Bays, who was second in line in the pursuit, hit the pickup on the driver’s side and pinned it against a parked truck. Both officers got out of their patrol vehicles and took up positions at Bays’ vehicle.
Graham’s body camera footage shows Venn getting out of his vehicle with his gun drawn and taking up a position on the passenger side of Bays’ vehicle. The shooting starts within seconds. Pimentel’s girlfriend was in the truck with him. Bays said he changed his position so she was not in his line of fire.
Bays told investigators that before he started shooting, Pimentel looked at him and turned the steering wheel toward him and gunned the engine. Graham’s bodycam footage does not show that, but she also was not in position to record it.
The video shows Graham ordering the girlfriend after the shooting to walk backward toward her. Graham then handcuffs and searches the girlfriend before placing her in the backseat of a patrol vehicle.
Body camera video from several officers shows officers pulling Pimentel’s limp body from the pickup to start lifesaving measures. At one point, one officer says Pimentel still is breathing. He would be pronounced dead at 1:47 a.m. that day at Doctors Medical Center, according to records released by Ceres.
Sacramento attorney Mark Merin, who represented Pimentel’s family in their federal lawsuit against Ceres, has said the Sheriff’s Department helicopter had joined the pursuit — Sheriff’s Department records confirm that — and police should have backed off and let the helicopter track Pimentel.
He also questioned the wisdom of Ceres police engaging in a reckless, high-speed pursuit to catch a speeding motorist who had refused to pull over. “They endangered other people’s lives, and for what? A traffic violation,” Merin said.
The lawsuit against Ceres recently was settled for $2 million, with the city’s insurance covering it.
The Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office found Venn and Bays were justified in the shooting and had acted in “self-defense and-or in the defense of others and to prevent the escape of a dangerous suspect,” according to a letter the office released in the shooting.
The letter stated Pimentel had a blood alcohol level of 0.28 percent, more than three times the legal limit.
A Police Department internal affairs investigation found Venn and Bays did not violate department policy regarding use of force and vehicle pursuits. Venn was found to have violated department policy for not wearing his body camera; Bays was not found in violation.
Ceres Police Chief Richard Collins said that while this pursuit did not violate policy, the department has adjusted its training based on the Pimentel pursuit and ones that took place after it. He said that essentially the department wants officers to “take a moment” and think before pursuing someone.
Ceres officials have said Venn and Bays remain employed by the city, but Bays is on medical leave. Venn declined to comment for a previous story about the shooting, and Bays could not be reached for comment for that story.
This story was originally published November 27, 2019 at 4:58 PM.
