Miami police officer seen clinging to hood of car before shooting driver

New York Post

5 days ago

A Miami police officer was captured firing multiple rounds through the windshield of a car as he clung to its hood for dear life after the driver allegedly hit him and accelerated forward.
The officer, wearing a reflective yellow vest, is seen holding on to the hood of a black BMW as he presses his service pistol against the windshield and is heard firing at least three shots into the car, wild cellphone footage obtained by Local 10 News shows.
Panic from bystanders on the busy downtown Miami street can be heard as the vehicle tries to turn left but rolls to a stop — allowing the cop to jump off to safety and the driver's side door to swing open.
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4 Wild cellphone footage shows a Miami police officer firing multiple rounds through the windshield of a car as he clung to its hood for dear life after the driver allegedly hit him and accelerated forward.
Local 10
The driver then bolts from the BMW in a blood-stained white shirt but stops a few feet away before he's ordered by the officer who shot him to get on the ground in the middle of the street.
He complies and first lies down on his back before being told to roll over by another officer who rushes into the frame and puts him in handcuffs as the video ends.
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The police shooting happened in front of Bayfront Park — less than a mile from Kaseya Arena — on Sunday as people gathered at the Best of the Best Caribbean music festival, prompting dozens of the estimated 10,000 to 12,000 concertgoers to flee for cover.
Miami Police Assistant Chief Armando Aguilar told Local 10 News that the driver, identified as 21-year-old Menelek Clarke, was shot several times during the incident and was rushed over to Ryder Trauma Center for treatment.
The officer involved was taken to the hospital and treated for minor injuries before being released.
4 The BMW tries to turn left but rolls to a stop — allowing the cop to jump off to safety and the driver's side door to swing open.
Local 10
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'We don't know exactly what happened. We do know there was physical contact between the officer and the vehicle,' Aguilar said.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting and reviewing the officer's body camera footage and surveillance video from the area, according to the outlet.
The driver's sister, Sherylann Clarke, was in the car during the incident and described what happened moments before the shots rang out on the busy downtown Miami street.
4 The suspect, 21-year-old Menelek Clarke, bolts from the BMW in a blood-stained white shirt but stops a few feet away before he's ordered by the officer who shot him to get on the ground in the middle of the street.
Local 10
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4 The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.
Local 10
'The patrol officer, we were all stopped, we were in the middle lane,' Sherlyann Clarke told Local 10 News.
'He told everyone else to go with his hand — hand signaling that we can go. And then he stood in front of my brother's car and shot him.'
Sherlyann said that her brother was looking for an area to park his car and wasn't trying to hit the officer.
'It wasn't intentional to hit him – no. The man moved with the car as he was going around him,' she claimed.
'I feel like he was wrongfully shot multiple times in his vehicle with no weapon.'
The Post has reached out to the Miami Police Department for comment.