Vallejo officer who shot man in June testifies he ‘locked eyes’ with suspect

VALLEJO –  A Vallejo police officer who shot and wounded a man who allegedly drove at him with a car in June testified on Tuesday that he “locked eyes” with the suspect moments before he drove forward with a silver Dodge Charger.

But the man who was shot, 29-year-old Jamazea Kittell, said in an interview with investigators played in court Tuesday that he didn’t even know that the car had come into contact with Vallejo police Officer Brad Kim until days after the incident. Stills from surveillance video shown during the preliminary hearing indicated that the vehicle started moving before Kim stood in its way.

Kittell also told Kim moments after he was shot that he hadn’t seen him when he drove forward. Kim shot Kittell in the face, but Kittell survived and is charged with attempting to murder Kim as well as burglary and two counts related to vehicle theft.

Solano County Superior Court Judge Robert Bowers did not rule on Tuesday whether Kittell would be ordered to stand trial for attempting to kill Kim. Testimony is scheduled to resume in October.

Under questioning from Deputy District Attorney Kevin Tali, Kim said that he was called 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 he drove to the gas station without his overhead lights and sirens, hoping that he would arrive in time to catch the burglars in the act. He said that just before he arrived, he turned on his patrol car’s overhead lights to alert anyone there that police had arrived.

Kim said 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.”

He 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.

Kim fired a total of four times and said the shots were directed toward the driver, but acknowledged he could not account for all of his shots. Deputy Public Defender Nick Filloy pointed out that a rear passenger door had a bullet hole in it, but Kim denied firing on the vehicle as it was fleeing, speculating that the hole was already there.

During cross examination, Filloy pointed out that moments after Kittell left the car, he said something indicating that he didn’t know Kim was in front of him when he drove away. “You didn’t see me?” Kim responded. “You didn’t look me in the eyes?”

Kim then told him to “talk less.” Kim testified that he said that because Kittell was bleeding out of his nose and mouth and needed medical attention.

Kim said that his dash camera malfunctioned and did not capture the shooting. He also said that he attempted to radio “shots fired” to dispatch but it did not go through because other officers were pursuing another burglary suspect to the Hercules area.

Kim also acknowledged that prior to the shooting he had reviewed a new department policy that banned shooting at vehicles “unless the operator or occupant poses an immediate threat of death or serious bodily injury to the public or an officer by means other than the vehicle.”

“It is hard to distinguish what is old policy vs. new policy,” Kim said. The new policy took effect on July 1, three days after the shooting. When asked if he might have handled the situation differently if the incident had happened four or five days later, Kim said, “maybe.”

Kim also testified that he did not know whether other officers were arriving with him, but Bradshaw testified that everyone on duty that morning left the station together, and she was just behind Kim while driving to the gas station.

Bradshaw testified that typically, officers would attempt to surround the building with a perimeter if a crime was in progress, rather than immediately driving into the scene.

Regarding whether his tactics put him in danger, Kim said that he ran toward the car because he wanted to apprehend anyone involved in the burglary. “The whole purpose of being a police officer isn’t to write a bunch of reports during a 10-12 hour shift, it’s to catch the bad guys doing bad things to the people of this city,” he said.

Kittell again indicated that he hadn’t seen Kim during a July 3 interview with investigators with the Solano County Major Crimes Task Force, which is overseen by the DA’s office and investigates use of deadly force in the county.

Video of the hospital interview was played in court on Tuesday. At the time, Kittell, still recovering from his injuries, was mostly unable to speak but communicated by writing his responses to the detectives.

“I was unarmed and still shot in the face,” Kittell wrote. He told investigators that he had the car in reverse until he was shot, and that forced it into drive and he went forward.

When asked about Kim being on the hood of the vehicle, Kittell shook his head. “That did not happen,” he wrote. “He jumped on it to get me because he shot me while the car was in reverse.”

One of the investigators who interviewed Kittell, Solano Sheriff’s Detective Dylan Friend, acknowledged under questioning from Filloy that he knew that Kittell had been heavily sedated for days prior to the interview.

Bradshaw is expected to continue testifying on Oct. 3, and defense attorneys said they plan to play surveillance video and call on expert testimony.

Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct a quote by Brad Kim.