VIDEO HERE: http://youtu.be/i7-owe1LRdA?list=UUJB56uhsEBSyXulDapj-Ojg
NEW ROCHELLE, NY — Dashcam video obtained by Talk of the Sound under a Freedom of Information request shows Police Officer Matthew Glass arriving on scene at Winthrop Avenue and DeWitt Place in Radio Car 43. Sergeant Joseph Salerno has just arrived (his brake lights flicker as Glass approached his SUV) in response to a report of a black youth with a gun in the area.
There are six youths in the area but they are separated, one group of two about 30 feet behind on Winthrop, below DeWitt Place and one group of four that are in the middle of the intersection as P.O. Glass arrives on scene. Sgt. Salerno can be seen exiting his vehicle, approaching the four youths from behind as P.O. Glass pulls his vehicle forward, blocking their path forward. The camera is pointed down DeWitt Place towards Horton Avenue.
The four youths and Sgt. Salerno are out of frame as they interact. After a few seconds, P.O. Glass appears in the frame from the left, moving quickly in front of his vehicle. A youth appears in the frame from the right. As Glass gives chase and starts to close on the youth, the youth can be seen attempting to pull up his sagging pants as he runs.
There is no evidence of snowball fight in the video nor is their evidence that the youth bent down and tugged at his waistband before he ran off.
Also visible in the video is Alexa Watts shooting the viral “snowball fight” video. She is getting into her car as Glass arrives. She opens her car door and appears to be recording from a seated position. Later in the full version of the video she gets out of her car, stands up and records video. It appears that she is recording for more time than the two clips she posted suggesting that New Rochelle Police might want to obtain a copy of all video she recorded as her vantage point might include the interaction between Salerno and the four youths that led to three of them on their knees in the snow with Salerno’s gun drawn.
The dashcam video was released by NRPD under a FOIL request 11 days after Talk of the Sound first made a FOIL request. Over the past week Talk of the Sound Publisher Robert Cox, Council Member Jared Rice and many others repeatedly called for full transparency by the NRPD in releasing the video and other public records.
[EDITOR’S NOTE: Video of the event was provided to Talk of the Sound by NRPD in a proprietary video format. We are working to extract the audio and upload a higher resolution copy of the video and will present the entire video. In the meantime, we have recorded they key portion of the video directly off a computer screen with an iPhone. If you are in the area and can make a high quality screen grab off a video playing on a Windows machine please contact robertcox@talkofthesound.com. We also have the Incident Report and more information on the original video; more on that soon]
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