Charges reduced for man shot by Vallejo police officer

VALLEJO – A Solano County Superior Court judge ruled Tuesday that a man shot by a Vallejo police officer in June should stand trial for the lesser charge of assault with a deadly weapon rather than the charge sought by prosecutors of attempted murder of a police officer.

Jamazea Kittell was shot in the face by Vallejo police Officer Brad Kim on June 27 as he struck Kim with a Dodge Charger as he was pulling out of a gas station where he’d allegedly just committed a burglary. Kittell survived and was charged with attempting to murder Kim as well as burglary and charges related to vehicle theft.

But citing videos shown in court during Kittell’s preliminary hearing last week, Judge Robert Bowers ruled Tuesday that Kittell should only face charges at trial of assault with a deadly weapon, finding that there was insufficient evidence that Kittell had tried to kill Kim. Defense attorneys argued that Kittell was attempting to flee and Kim got in the way of his car. 

“The interesting question will be, was it just a reckless attempt to leave that doesn't assign the criminal responsibility? Or was it an assault?” Bowers said Tuesday. “Was he willing to assault the officer to effectuate his leave? And that'll be something that a jury can decide.”

Following his ruling, Bowers set Kittell’s bail at $100,000. Kittell had been held without bail since his arrest in June. Bowers said he found that Kittell is potentially a danger to the community because his actions at the gas station indicated that he is reckless, and found that he is a flight risk because he’s facing a long sentence. Kittell has two prior offenses and if convicted, would face 25 years to life in prison. 

Kim was one of several Vallejo police officers who responded to the Grand gas station at 1401 Springs Road at about 4 a.m. on June 27 after the station owner reported a burglary in progress.

Kim testified that as he arrived he saw a driver get into a parked Dodge Charger as others ran from the gas station. He said that he intended to block the Charger using his patrol car, but he had to slam on his brakes about 6 feet short of the Charger when someone ran in front of his car.

Dash camera video from Officer Jaleesa Bradshaw shows Kim run from his car toward the Charger with his gun drawn, then stand in front of it while crossing from the passenger side to the driver’s side with his gun pointed at the windshield.

Kim said that he was attempting to get to the driver’s door to potentially pull the driver out and arrest him. As he was moving in front of the car, he said he saw the driver, who was hooded and wearing a mask. Kim said that he was “pretty sure that we locked eyes for a second.”

Kim said that as he approached the driver’s side front corner of the car, he felt it lunge toward him while going left, so he fired at the driver through the windshield. Kim was pushed onto the hood of the car and then fell to the ground as the Charger drove around him, then crashed into a gas meter across the street. Kittell got out of the car and fell to the ground, bleeding from the face, where Kim and Bradshaw arrested him.

An expert hired by the Solano County Public Defender’s Office argued last week that Kittell did not have time to react to Kim in the time that Kim arrived at the gas station and ran in front of Kittell’s car. Kittell’s attorneys also showed surveillance video from the gas station to support that conclusion. 

“There is one video that just gets my complete attention,” Bowers said, citing surveillance video from the gas station that showed the Charger’s wheels started turning left while Kim was to the right of the car, before he ran in front of it. Bowers estimated when it finally left, it was going only 5 mph, but said it was hard to tell and wondered whether it could be timed. But it appeared, Bowers said, that he “just tried to leave.”

The expert also called into question Kim’s testimony that he “locked eyes” with Kittell. He said that while Kim could likely see Kittell’s face clearly, Kittell was likely blinded by the bright lights of Kim’s headlights and overhead lights. A recreation of the lighting conditions shown in court last week showed that Kittell’s windshield would have been difficult to see through because of glare from Kim’s headlights and overhead lights.