ORLANDO, Fla. – News 6 has reviewed newly-released body camera footage from the night of a police pursuit in February, when a car and an Orlando police truck pursuing it struck a bystander on the sidewalk.
The bystander, Gerald Neal, 56, died from his injuries.
The video is 20 minutes long and only shows the perspective of Detective Christopher Moulton, the officer who initiated the pursuit.
Orlando Police said Moulton’s truck, an unmarked Ford F-150, was not equipped with a dash camera.
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While there is no audio at the outset of the video, the first 50 seconds of the footage appear to be the most pertinent. Moulton is pursuing a car, driven by Dornell Bargnare.
A report by Florida Highway Patrol released in February determined that during this pursuit, the Nissan Altima driven by Bargnare veers off a road and strikes Neal, who was walking on the shoulder.
The report stated that the second vehicle, driven by Moulton, “traveled onto the south curbed shoulder to the left of V1 causing the front tire of V2 to collide with P1.”
The body-camera footage shows Moulton then stopping his vehicle and running after Bargnare on foot.
The next 20 minutes of the video depict Moulton and other officers canvassing the neighborhood and searching for Bargnare.
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But in the final two minutes of the video, Moulton’s attention is turned to the area where he left his truck.
“There was a guy under your truck,” an officer can be heard saying to Moulton, after conferring with someone over the phone.
“Under my truck?” Moulton asks. “Hiding? Ok, yeah, I’ll check right now.”
The video ends moments later.
Bargnare’s charges have since been upgraded to include vehicular homicide.
A February affidavit for an arrest warrant for Bargnare claimed that Moulton observed Bargnare’s car with an “unreadable license plate.”
The affidavit said that Moulton tried to initiate a traffic stop, turning on the truck’s red and blue lights, but that Bargnare began driving at a high rate of speed away from the truck.
A review of Orlando Police’s internal policies and procedures appears to indicate that Moulton may have violated at least one procedure pertaining to traffic pursuits.
“Officers may engage in pursuit when they have a reasonable suspicion that a fleeing suspect committed or attempted to commit a forcible felony,” a procedure entitled ‘Decision to Pursue’ reads.
‘Forcible felonies’ include alleged crimes like murder, armed robbery, and armed sexual battery. An offense, such as having an unreadable license plate, is not listed under the section defining ‘forcible felonies.’
Moulton has not been criminally charged and remains on administrative leave from the Orlando Police Department.