Although recently released police dashcam video clearly depicts the driver swerving away from the officer, Oak Ridge Officer Nathan Gibson blatantly stepped in front of the moving vehicle in order to justify gunning down the fleeing motorist. Despite the fact that the officers involved had multiple nonlethal tactics at their disposal, the district attorney cleared Officer Gibson of any wrongdoing.
Around 6:30 p.m. on October 8, 2018, Oak Ridge police officers approached Isaiah Ramirez, 36, who had active warrants for domestic assault, aggravated burglary, and probation violation. When police approached, Ramirez climbed in his truck and started the engine as Officer Nathan Gibson and another officer cracked his windows with their batons.
According to the recently released police videos, Ramirez escaped in a pickup truck with a trailer still attached. Officers followed him into a parking lot, where they failed to box his vehicle in and surround him.
Instead, Officer Gibson clearly placed his own life in jeopardy by running in front of the pickup truck in order to claim exigent circumstances to justify taking Ramirez’s life. Too incompetent or simply lazy to effectively arrest a motorist driving a pickup truck that had no chance of escaping police patrol cars, Gibson ran in front of a vehicle that attempted to swerve away from the officer before three police-issued bullets pieced the pickup truck’s windshield.
Two bullets fatally struck Ramirez, while the third bullet impacted against the steering column. Ramirez’s vehicle barely grazed Gibson’s leg while attempting to drive away from the homicidal cop.
Ramirez was declared dead at an area hospital. Authorities said earlier this month that Ramirez had a pulse at least briefly on the scene.
An autopsy found Ramirez had been on oxycodone and other prescription drugs, and he had more than 200 pills stashed in his truck, authorities said. His criminal record included convictions for domestic assault, failure to appear, debit card fraud, and aggravated burglary.
Gibson was treated for a knee injury on the night of the incident and later returned to work.
Even though Ramirez never made any blatant attempt to murder the officer trying to arrest him, Anderson County District Attorney General Dave Clark determined that no criminal charges would be filed against Gibson, who had been directly responsible for taking Ramirez’s life. According to Clark, running from the cops is an immediate death sentence without due process.
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