AG's office releases video of shooting of Jeremy Bennett by Nassau police

At least two Nassau County police officers opened fire on a Queens man when he was fatally shot during a vehicle pursuit last year, with one shouting "show your [expletive] hands" just before firing at the stopped vehicle, police body camera video released Thursday shows.

The state attorney general's Office of Special Investigation (OSI), which investigates all incidents in which police are alleged to have caused the death of a civilian, released the body-worn camera videos from five Nassau officers who were present at the scene of the Sept. 20 fatal shooting of Jeremy Bennett in Massapequa.

Bennett, 37, of Jamaica, Queens, died at a hospital on Sept. 21.

The investigation into the fatal shooting of Bennett is ongoing, the attorney general's office said in a news release that attached the videos Thursday.

A police pursuit of Bennett's vehicle began after 11 p.m. in Queens, the NYPD has said, after Bennett allegedly fled a traffic stop.

The NYPD did not disclose why it initially stopped Bennett, but said after he fled "at a high rate of speed" it terminated its attempt to stop the driver.

But Nassau police pursued Bennett's vehicle, which police have said struck several people and struck or almost struck civilian and police cars.

Eight people were hospitalized as a result, including five Nassau officers, two NYPD officers and one civilian, all of whom had minor injuries, police said.

OSI released six video clips of body camera footage from five officers showing the pursuit of Bennett's vehicle and the shooting.

OSI did not offer any comment on the body camera footage, other than saying that it released it as part of its effort toward transparency.

"The release of this footage follows Attorney General [Letitia] James’ directive that camera footage obtained by her office during an OSI investigation be released to the public to increase transparency and strengthen public trust in these matters," the office said in a news release.

"The release of this footage is not an expression of any opinion as to the guilt or innocence of any party in a criminal matter or any opinion as to how or whether any individual may be charged with a crime."

Bennett's family could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Nassau police spokesman Lt. Scott Skrynecki said Thursday that the department had no comment.

Nassau PBA president Thomas Shevlin, through a spokesman, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In a 4-minute and 10-second video that begins at 11:31 p.m. on Sept. 20 labeled "Officer Judd," an initial encounter between police and a vehicle allegedly driven by Bennett ends with the driver's side window broken and the car driving away from at least two officers standing right outside the vehicle.

It is unclear whether the broken car window was caused by police gunfire.

The video then shows the vantage point from back inside a police car, apparently in pursuit of the vehicle that fled.

"I'm gonna do the same [expletive] I did before," the officer driving the car said to an officer in his passenger seat. "I'm gonna [inaudible] the vehicle. I don't give a [expletive]."

A second video from Judd's body camera, which begins at 11:36 p.m. and is 1 minute and 10 seconds long, shows the officer shouting "Hands! Show your [expletive] hands!" before firing multiple rounds into the windshield of the vehicle.

A body camera video from "Officer Braun" at 11:36 p.m. shows the officer approach the vehicle from its right side and apparently fire shots.

Three other body camera videos, also beginning at 11:36 p.m. appear to show different vantage points of the shooting.

The videos, labeled "Officer Gabbe" and "Officer Haubold" and "Officer Marinello," show the officers' guns unholstered but they did not appear to fire.

The first 60 seconds of each video clip released has no audio. A note attached to the clips said the 60 seconds before an officer activates their camera is saved without audio.

Nassau Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder, speaking to reporters a day after the shooting, said, "Officers attempted to get that individual out of the car, a shooting occurred and the individual has died."

Ryder added Bennett was "ramming police cars. He’s ramming civilian cars and he lost control of his own vehicle." 

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.