Police video details actions of troopers, Detroit police after teen's taser death on ATV

DETROIT (WJBK) - In August 2017, a teen was on an ATV in Detroit when he was chased through a neighborhood and tased by Michigan State Police. The shock caused him to crash into a parked car, and the 15-year-old was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. 

Since his death, the trooper who deployed the Taser has been charged with second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. Questions have remained, though, about why police were chasing Damon Grimes in the first place. Through the Freedom of Information Act, The Detroit Free Press obtained 25 hours of video and audio, showing the final moments of the chase before Grimes crashed -- and the aftermath.

The Free Press compiled the videos into one 8-minute long story, using body cam, dash cam, and surveillance videos from nearby businesses. The unedited video from the incident is hard to watch, and reveals " several items of importance // several items to note ?? "

First, that it appears the troopers' emergency lights weren't activated until 24 seconds after Grimes crashed. 

Second, we hear Trooper Mark Bessner -- the one who's accused of deploying the taser and faces the criminal charges -- radio right after the crash that Grimes is breathing but is unconscious. He also then radios, "He slowed down, we tased him and he crashed out."

The materials also showed some insensitive remarks from some officers at the scene. "Don't run from the State Police; you'll get f----- up," one unidentified officer said. 

An ambulance got to the scene about seven minutes later, which The Free Press reports is about one minute faster than the city's average response time for life-threatening calls. Over the course of those seven minutes, you can hear the voices of different officers radioing that the teen's pulse was weakening, and asking the EMTs to hurry up. 

The videos also showed when the ambulances pulled onto the scene, the Detroit Police officers all turned their body cameras off, except for one female officer. She turned hers on and captured more from the scene.

She captured more insensitive remarks, specifically from a 22-year veteran of the department when she asked if they should give the ambulance an escort to the hospital.

"Hell no. For him?" He asked. "They got lights and sirens. We only do that for police. If an officer gets shot, we'll do that."

The officer made multiple remarks in the videos that led to his reassignment, the Free Press reported. 

When that officer learned Grimes was only 15 years old, he said, "He's a bad-ass 15." He continued, "No sympathy at all for bull----. Mother------- wanna' be grown, ya' act grown. Ya' gotta f------deal with it."

The Free Press identified the officer in question as Aubrey Wade. Chief Craig says supervisors weren't aware of the comments until The Free Press asked them about it, after reviewing the materials. Wade was reportedly reassigned to a non-patrol duty earlier this week.

You can read more and watch the Detroit Free Press video here.