Sheriff’s office releases body-cam video from deputy in fatal Miami-Dade shootout
The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office released body camera footage Monday from a deputy shooting an armed man during an intense shootout in Goulds in September.
The footage shows the deputy approach a Honda minivan parked outside a small grocery store at Southwest 216th Street and 122nd Avenue around 7:40 p.m. Sept. 16 with his gun drawn. The deputy, Sgt. Gilberto Crespo, responded to the area after receiving reports that the man was pointing a gun at people.
READ MORE: Veteran Miami-Dade deputy shoots, kills armed man during shootout in Goulds: MDSO
Crespo, a 19-year-veteran on the department, repeatedly orders the man, 44-year-old Jose Pineda, Jr., to show his hands. Pineda responds, “I ain’t got no hands,” the footage shows. Crespo reiterated, “Let me see your [expletive] hands,” and again, Pineda countered with, “I ain’t got no hands.”
The footage does not show a clear image of Pineda sitting in the driver’s seat of the van, but the deputy opens fire seconds later, at first advancing forward as he shoots, but then running backwards continuing to fire as gunfire is heard coming from the direction of the van, the footage shows.
Crespo shoots more than 20 rounds at the vehicle, before taking cover behind a silver Chevy pickup truck parked next to Pineda’s van, the footage shows. Sound coming from the van indicates Pineda fired at least 10 shots at Crespo.
Crespo changes magazines and fires three more rounds before radioing his colleagues, “Shots fired,” the video shows. He then fires twice at the van, according to the footage, telling other deputies arriving at the scene over the radio, “Watch for crossfire, he’s armed!”
The sergeant told the other deputies that Pineda was still in the van, but they found him lying outside the vehicle with a handgun next to him, the footage shows. The deputies then cuffed him.
Miami-Dade Fire Rescue paramedics took Pineda to the hospital, where he died. The sheriff’s office said he has a long criminal record.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting. Sheriff Rosie Cordero-Stutz said in a statement Monday that she released the footage to adhere to her department’s commitment to “upholding the principles of transparency, accountability, and public trust.”
“While a thorough investigation by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is still underway, releasing this footage ensures everyone sees the sequence of events as they unfolded,” Cordero-Stutz said.
