As TFTP reported in 2019, citizens of New Haven protested for several days after April 16 when police blocked in a couple in their vehicle and opened fire on them for no reason. The entire incident was captured on video and showed the utter cowardice and ridiculous violence carried out by New Haven’s best.
Stephanie Washington, 22, was hospitalized after the two trigger-happy cops opened fire on her and her boyfriend Paul Witherspoon, 21. According to police, Hamden officer Devon Eaton and Yale police officer Terrance Pollock were responding to reports of a robbery at a nearby gas station when they stopped the vehicle in which Washington was a passenger.
Neither Washington nor Witherspoon committed a robbery and they were entirely innocent.
As the body camera footage shows, there was no reason for the officers to start shooting as it appeared the couple was trying to comply and exit the vehicle. But they simply weren’t given any time before these trigger happy cops opened fire.
Eaton was charged after a lengthy, use of force investigation by the New Haven State’s Attorney and the Connecticut State Police. The investigation report cleared Pollock of “any criminal wrongdoing.” It concluded that Pollock fired three times at the red Honda, but didn’t hit anything, The report also said that Pollock suffered a minor graze wound from one of Eaton’s shots and that Eaton also hit Pollock’s police car.
Eaton fired 13 times, shooting Washington and his fellow cop in a clearly reckless manner and this week, we learned that he will not be going to jail. In January, Eaton pleaded no contest in Superior Court to a charge of first-degree assault for the shooting. He was set to be sentenced for five years, suspended after 18 months and three years of probation. That did not happen.
Instead, he received probation only. What’s more, Eaton was never fired and has been on the payroll since the shooting three years ago. He only just resigned in January as part of his plea agreement.
“As a binding part of his plea agreement with the state, Eaton has agreed that he will not now, nor ever in his lifetime, seek or accept employment or reemployment as a sworn law enforcement officer in the State of Connecticut, or any other state or territory of the United States,” state prosecutors said.
As the video shows, in only seconds, both officers jumped out of the vehicles and began shooting at this innocent couple. After they shot Washington, they realized the couple was unarmed.
“I was trying to take cover from the gunshots, so I was leaning in between the driver and passenger seats, towards the back seat,” Washington said, according to the report. “It was like being in a nightmare. I thought I was going to die. As the gunfire was going on, I started to feel a tingling, burning pain and numbness in my legs, looked down and saw blood and glass, and I remember thinking that I was shot.”
Police claim that Witherspoon had a weapon so they had no other option but to begin dumping rounds into the car. However, a search of the vehicle, video footage from surveillance cameras as well as the officer’s own body camera footage, shows that no such weapon existed.
What’s more, police claim that they opened fire because Witherspoon “exited the vehicle in an abrupt manner” and turned toward them. However, as the video shows, that never happened.
As the video shows, the officers were the only ones who jumped out of a vehicle and they immediately opened fire for absolutely no reason.
Witherspoon’s uncle told reporters that there was an argument at the gas station, but no attempted robbery. His comments were backed up by the fact that no charges were filed against either of the vehicle’s occupants.
The 911 caller claimed Witherspoon had a gun and tried to rob a newspaper delivery driver. However, no such gun was found and after an investigation, no such attempted robbery took place.
An innocent couple was almost slaughtered because of two trigger happy cops and no one is going to jail.
Below are the videos from that night.
Officer Hamden’s body camera:
Argyle street surveillance camera:
Dixwell street surveillance camera:
