[raw video] 06/18/10 - A Dallas police officer faces a faces a misdemeanor charge of discharging a weapon after she fired a revolver in a squad car during a drunken off-duty incident.
Officer Kelly Beemer, 27, has been placed on administrative leave, pending the outcome of a criminal investigation.
"I am extremely disappointed by Officer Beemer's conduct and the actions she took during this incident," Police Chief David Brown said in a prepared statement. "The recklessness she displayed is unacceptable conduct for a Dallas police officer."
Her attorney, Haakon Donnelly, declined to comment.
About 11 p.m. Wednesday, Beemer was at Lee Harvey's bar in South Dallas, where she had been drinking. Her friends decided she shouldn't drive herself home, police said.
An off-duty officer at the bar offered to give Beemer a ride home, but authorities said she wouldn't tell the officer where she lived. She got out of that officer's vehicle and tried to hide, authorities said.
Two on-duty patrol officers, Miguel Jamaica and Zachary Helm, came to the bar to help get Beemer under control, police said. Helm had been dating Beemer, police said.
An in-car video camera from Helm's squad car shows what happened next: Helm and Jamaica walked a staggering and apparently incoherent Beemer to Helm's car. They placed her in the back seat.
"Oh my God," a distraught Beemer says repeatedly. "I can't believe you would do this to me. I thought better of you."
About 11:20 p.m., as Helm approached the intersection of Gaston Avenue and Abrams Road, Beemer began demanding that he stop the squad car. She tried to open the door.
"I swear you need to stop now," she said just before pulling a revolver from her ankle holster and firing into the floorboard. Helm jumped out of the vehicle, demanding repeatedly that she drop the gun.
Helm and another off-duty officer who had been following in his personal vehicle then disarmed her.
On the recording, Helm asked Beemer, "Are you insane?" as he beat on the squad car and cried out in apparent frustration.
Neither Beemer nor Helm was injured.
Brown said Helm and Jamaica made a "good faith effort to assist a fellow officer" but should have arrested her for public intoxication once it became clear she was a danger to herself and others.
"The officers were trying to do the right thing but did it in the wrong way," he said.
Jamaica and Helm have been placed on restricted duty.
In a separate incident about 10:45 p.m. Wednesday, Officer Charles Jeffers, 30, was accused of pushing a former girlfriend down a flight of stairs at her home in the 5100 block of Willow Lane in northwest Dallas.
The 41-year-old woman told police that Jeffers "became irate and shoved her," causing her to fall backward down a flight of stairs. The woman, who had no visible injuries, left the apartment and called police.
Jeffers has been place on administrative leave while police investigate.
11 Comments
bleedmegood*promote
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blankfistIf it was anyone of us who shot a revolver in a squad car, this story would be in the obituaries.
BoneRemakeI like how he says please, as though he is asking politely. hahahha
GenjiKilpatrickHe sorta sounds like Will Ferrell, no?
demon_ixOfficer fires a weapon at squad car reminds me of Mr. Prezbo.
MorganthHow is shouting really loudly at the drunk lady with the gun going to make her want to drop it more? Clearly, she'll listen to logic. Maybe the other officers also have weapons drawn?
Also, why does she have her gun? Of all people, a police officer should know that if you're going out to drink, leave the gun at home.
dystopianfuturetoday^I believe everyone has a gun in Texas, it's an open carry state.
dystopianfuturetodayNote to self: Do not shoot revolver in or at cop car.
>> ^blankfist:
If it was anyone of us who shot a revolver in a squad car, this story would be in the obituaries.
alwaysI hope they take her badge for good.
Shepppard>> ^Morganth:
How is shouting really loudly at the drunk lady with the gun going to make her want to drop it more? Clearly, she'll listen to logic. Maybe the other officers also have weapons drawn?
Also, why does she have her gun? Of all people, a police officer should know that if you're going out to drink, leave the gun at home.
It was an ankle revolver, I would like to make it clear, this was not a state-issued gun, and was not sitting around her waist.
The >only< reason she wasn't searched, was because this was basically being treated as "We're driving our friend home" and not "We're taking a suspect into custody"
Try smuggling a revolver into a cop car in the first place, they frisk you. Then, should you make it into the car, with your gun somehow being left undiscovered, you've got cuffs on and your arms behind your back.
Everything is basically interchangeable here, instead of two "cops" driving her home, it's two "friends". Instead of a squad car, it's an 09 lincoln. The gun was not police issue, but her own private firearm.
I don't see why the fact that this involves "Cops" really has anything to do with anything other then the fact that they were able to de-escalate the situation pretty quickly after the shot was fired.
The reason the two cops that were in uniform are in trouble is because they treated this like I said, as "we're driving a friend home".
Basically, a quote from the article sums this up perfectly, "The officers were trying to do the right thing but did it in the wrong way"
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