Caught on dashcam video shooting an unarmed man in the neck for no justifiable reason, a former Northern California police officer was recently sentenced to six months in jail and three years of probation. According to the video, the officer waited at least 11 minutes before informing a commanding officer that he had fired his gun and previously lied at the scene stating the unarmed man had not been shot.
At 11:58 p.m. on November 25, 2015, Paradise Police Officer Patrick Feaster began pursuing an SUV with its headlights turned off and speeding out of a parking lot. Less than a minute later, the officer’s dashcam video recorded the SUV’s driver, Andrew Thomas, accidentally driving into a median and flipping his vehicle.
Arriving at the crash scene a few seconds later, Feaster discovered that the passenger, Darien Ehorn, had been ejected from the SUV. As Thomas began climbing out of the passenger window in a non-threatening manner, Feaster immediately fired a bullet into the unarmed driver’s neck without provocation.
After Thomas collapsed back into the vehicle, Feaster appeared to search the area around his feet for his shell casing before other officers arrived. Off-screen, another officer could be heard asking Feaster, “Just her?”
“No,” Feaster answered. “There’s a male in the car refusing to get out.”
While later addressing Thomas, Feaster stood beside the open window without showing any fear for his life and said, “Get out of the car, sir. You’re not shot, sir. Get out of the car.”
Besides lying to Thomas about not shooting him, Feaster failed to inform his fellow officers that he had discharged his weapon before their arrival. Feaster also neglected to tell the responding paramedics that Thomas was suffering from a bullet wound to the neck.
Roughly 11 minutes after a commanding officer arrived at the scene, Feaster finally disclosed the fact that he had shot Thomas in the neck. Ehorn died from her wounds a short time later, while Thomas died from complications stemming from his gunshot wound on December 19, 2015.
In October, a jury found Feaster guilty of involuntary manslaughter which resulted in Thomas’ death. Facing up to five years in jail, Feaster was sentenced Friday to six months in jail and three years of probation for killing an unarmed man on video.
Despite the fact that the police dashcam video clearly shows Feaster removing his .45-caliber Glock pistol from his holster, aiming the gun at Thomas, and firing a bullet at his neck without an apparent reason, prosecutors argued that Feaster had been criminally negligent and reckless when he pulled the trigger.
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