Steen case: In-car video analysis

The following is an in-depth overview of Pensacola Police Officer Jerald Ard’s in-car video as the events preceding Victor Steen’s death unfold.

We’ve edited the video slightly to remove about 43 seconds of non-relevant video at the beginning of the footage. We begin with Officer Ard located at the intersection of Cervantes Street and Pace Boulevard, heading eastbound on Cervantes.

In-car video background information

The in-car video was recorded by a WatchGuard digital police in-car video system. The WatchGuard system is continually recording directly to rewritable DVD discs as well as creating a backup of the last 6 DVDs on an internal hard drive. Audio is only recorded when manually activated or when an officer activates his blue lights. The DVD discs can only be removed from the system by supervisors.

Under normal operation, the video records in 90-second segments so there are brief skips in the first part of the video. When an officer activates his blue lights, video and audio begin recording continually. The system also backs up two minutes and automatically appends the video which preceded the activation of the blue lights.

Key points in the video

[0:00] Officer Ard is positioned at the intersection of Cervantes Street and Pace Boulevard, heading westbound on Cervantes.

[0:38] Officer Ard passes the Dollar General construction site at Cervantes and T streets and apparently observes Victor Steen, a 17-year-old black male on a bicycle, near the site. Officer Ard said later that he thought Mr. Steen could have been trying to steal something from construction equipment at the site.

[0:46] Officer Ard turns left onto U Street. He proceeds to circle the block, intending to get a better view of the construction site.

[1:26] Two pieces of construction equipment are visible as Officer Ard heads northbound on T Street, stopping at the red light at Cervantes. Mr. Steen appears to have left the construction site. Officer Ard proceeds to turn left onto Cervantes.

[2:04] Officer Ard turns left and does a U-turn in the parking lot of Oscar’s Restaurant, near Cervantes and W Streets.

[2:10] From Officer Ard’s vantage point in the Oscar’s parking lot, Victor Steen is visible crossing to the north side of Cervantes Street on his bicycle. Officer Ard exits the Oscar’s parking lot and travels eastbound on Cervantes.

[2:17] Officer Ard enters the oncoming lane of traffic, travelling eastbound in the westbound lanes of Cervantes Street. This positions him closer to Mr. Steen, who is travelling eastbound on the sidewalk on the north side of the street. He activates his blue lights at this time.

[2:26] Officer Ard calls out: “Stop the bike, now!” The command was not given over the vehicle’s loudspeaker, and Mr. Steen is about twenty feet in front of Officer Ard’s vehicle at this point.

[2:31] Officer Ard first radios dispatch: “211 to headquarters.” Dispatch responds but Officer Ard either doesn’t hear the response or is preoccupied with maneuvering his vehicle.

[2:34] Having accelerated to position himself next to Mr. Steen, Officer Ard calls out: “Stop the bike!”

[2:36] Officer Ard turns left sharply onto the sidewalk and calls out: “Stop it!” Mr. Steen is visible biking beside and then away from the vehicle. It appears that Officer Ard’s intent was to cut off Mr. Steen’s path with his vehicle. Officer Ard then continues to pursue Mr. Steen off-road through a grassy area adjacent to Brownsville Baptist Church.

[2:39] Dispatch responds again: “211?” Officer Ard’s response: “I got a black male trying to get away from me on bicycle … hold on.” Officer Ard exits the grassy area onto T Street, headed southbound.

[2:49] As he comes to a red light at Cervantes and T streets, Officer Ard radios dispatch: “I’m by Kay’s Fashion and Beauty Supply.” Officer Ard travels through the red light, turning left into the eastbound (correct) lanes of Cervantes Street. Transgender prostitute Victor Stallworth is visible at the southeast corner of the intersection.

[2:59] Officer Ard mounts the sidewalk directly behind Mr. Steen near Pfeiffer’s Drugs. Without anywhere to go, Officer Ard gets back onto the street.

[3:04] Victor Steen crosses over to the north side of Cervantes Street at the S Street intersection. Officer Ard follows him, again travelling eastbound in the westbound lanes of traffic.

[3:08] Officer Ard radios a description of Mr. Steen to dispatch: “Blue pants … black jacket.” He then maneuvers his vehicle until he is side-by-side with Mr. Steen, who is biking on the sidewalk. A warning sound from the vehicle is audible at this point; it is unclear whether it indicates that a door is ajar or that Officer Ard has removed his seatbelt. It’s possible he could have done either, either intentionally or by accident, while removing his Taser from its holster.

[3:16] Officer Ard fires his Taser from the moving cruiser. The sound of electricity arching at the taser can be heard, which is indicative of an unsuccessful deployment. If both of the Taser cartridges’ probes make contact with a target, the electricity will arch at the probes and into the target, and will not be audible. It is discovered later that one of the probes did indeed hit Mr. Steen, but the Taser wire was broken by a telephone pole which passed Officer Ard and Mr. Steen. At this point both are directly in front of the former Wachovia Bank location, and Mr. Steen apparently veers right into the parking lot. According to Officer Ard, he loses visual contact with Mr. Steen.

[3:18] As he approaches R Street, Officer Ard audibly accelerates and turns left onto R Street.

[3:21] Rather than stopping on R Street, Officer Ard continues in a sharp blind turn into the parking lot of the former Wachovia Bank location. As Officer Ard exits the turn, he continues to audibly accelerate.

[3:22] Victor Steen is visible a short distance in front of Officer Ard’s vehicle, in a “runner’s start” position, with at least one knee and hand on the ground. It is unclear whether Mr. Steen hit a curb and was ejected from the bicycle or freely ditched the bicycle and perhaps lost his balance. Mr. Steen looks upward toward the camera immediately before being struck by the vehicle. Mr. Steen is visible on the video for approximately 24 frames (one second) prior to the impact.

[3:25] Officer Ard’s vehicle mounts a concrete landscaping island and comes to a stop.

[3:28] Officer Ard radios dispatch: “211, headquarters. I need supervisor, EMS now!” EMS refers to Emergency Medical Services.

[3:37] After exiting the vehicle, Officer Ard calls out: “Where you at?”

[3:41] Officer Ard calls out: “Dude, you alright? You alright?”

[3:48] Officer Ard radios dispatch: “211, headquarters, we need EMS, we need Fire… (inaudible)”

[4:01] Officer Ard, on the radio: “Across from Sluggo’s.”

[4:06] Officer Ard calls out: “Are you alive? Can you hear me?

[4:20] Officer Ard radios dispatch: “211 … possible THI needed.” THI refers to Traffic Homicide Investigator.

The in-car video

Collision in slow motion

Below is the portion of the video during which Officer Ard runs over Mr. Steen with his vehicle, slowed to ¼ speed. In real time, this segment is 9.2 seconds of video, and essentially covers the point from when Officer Ard fires his Taser to the point at which the vehicle impacts the landscaping island.