CLAY COUNTY, OK – A woman who was the subject of a wellness check was detained by a sheriff’s deputy and was placed in the back seat of a marked SUV in handcuffs.
Deputies then had a conversation with another civilian in the yard of the home. Their intent was only to detain her for erratic behavior, and she was not going to be arrested.
It only took a few minutes for that to change.
Cameras inside the vehicle captured what unfolded in that backseat and led to 36-year-old Rachael Zion Clay to be held on a $1 million bail.
The woman can be seen wiggling around, eventually freeing one of her hands from the cuffs. She was then able to reach through the partition, release the lock that held the deputy’s rifle.
She brought it back through the partition, and as video shows, she tinkered with the rifle for several minutes while seemingly rocking back and forth.
After nearly four minutes, Clay can be seen haphazardly pointing the rifle out the back window and firing it blindly.
Authorities were able to confirm what video appeared to show.
“While in the back seat of a patrol car, she was able to get her wrist free from the handcuffs and the handcuffs were put on properly,” said Grady County Undersheriff Gary Boggess.
“There’s several switches, one is a gun switch to unlock the gun lock and she found it, unlocked the gun lock, and was able to retrieve an AR-15 rifle. Then she was able to figure out how to put a round in it, put it on fire and she fired approximately 10 rounds at our deputies and a civilian.”
Body camera footage captured the moment of the shots, and the civilian can be seen being shot. He grabs at his chest and screams “ow.”
Seconds later, as they all retreated to cover behind the other deputy’s vehicle, a blood stain appears on his shirt in the area he initially clutched.
A deputy radioed for additional units and EMS. He was also hit, with a round grazing his head, narrowly avoiding a more catastrophic outcome.
A young man can be seen coming out of the home, and officers telling him to get behind the vehicle. He was the son of the wounded civilian. Helped render aid to both injured men until EMS arrived.
Clay barricaded herself in the vehicle for close to three hours before eventually surrendering. She was charged with shooting with intent to kill.
Authorities say that both men were treated for non-life-threatening injuries and have been released.
The events of that day, while freak in nature, provided valuable insight into how things can be done differently to protect both law enforcement and innocent civilians.
Boggess told ABC 7 that his agency is looking into protocol and practice changes to prevent this sort if incident from happening again.
“One, I will say, is our console where it actually said ‘gun,’” he said. “She was able to see that. That’s going to be replaced. We’re going to put a switch someplace else in the vehicle to lock our gun.
It’s a freak deal. It’s one of these, I’m not going to say one in a million, but you know, it’s one of those deals that, you know, once it happens, then you go back and try to make sure it never happens again. That’s what we’re looking at.”
While it may not happen every day, there are occurrences of suspects and detainees managing to wreak havoc from the back seat.
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Police cruiser stolen by man handcuffed in the back seat
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – On Saturday night, August 15th, police handcuffed a suspect, hands behind his back, and placed him in the back seat of a patrol unit. What happened next seems to be scripted as a plot in a TV cop drama.
The officer left the vehicle running, and the rear window open. As the officer stepped away from the vehicle, the suspect somehow managed to slip his cuffed hands in front of his body, reach through the window and open the door. He went around the vehicle, jumped behind the wheel, and sped off.
According to Gephardt Daily, pursuing officers found the unit abandoned about 5 minutes later. A yard-to yard search led to the suspect being found in a mobile home in the immediate vicinity. He was apprehended without further incident.
Interestingly, the address where the unit was abandoned does not match a 5-minute perimeter.
They say it was discovered in the area of 740 S. 1450 West. There are four separate locations in the greater Salt Lake City area, the closest being 11 miles from the spot that the vehicle was taken. The furthest was roughly 34 miles away. None of those areas appear to have mobile home in the area.
Police were relieved to find the department issued long-rifle was still in the vehicle when it was recovered.
This was not the first police vehicle stolen this weekend.
Stolen Renton police car recovered in Seattle; suspect arrested https://t.co/Ur5GK5GpJF pic.twitter.com/nGqJxU1oRk
— FOX 13 Seattle (@fox13seattle) August 14, 2020
According to Q13 Fox in Seattle:
A suspect is behind bars, having been accused of stealing a Renton police patrol car, and then driving it roughly 15 miles to near downtown Seattle. Police found the vehicle on South Washington Street. The suspect was discovered and arrested just a few blocks away.
Renton police said the event started when after officers approached the suspect in relationship to a prior theft, but he refused to talk to them, walking away.
As the officers returned to their patrol cars, someone called 911 to report witnessing the suspect reaching through the open window of one of the cars. He then opened the door, got in and drove away.
The man, whose identity has not been released, but is in his 30’s, was arrested on suspicion of felony theft.
It is bad enough that people are stealing police cars, which could potentially lead to injuries or death to other people on the road, but it is even worse when the vehicles are completely destroyed.
QUEENS, NY – The suspect who set a New York City Police Department (NYPD) vehicle on fire in Manhattan on July 29, was arrested on Thursday, August 13 by the FBI.
The FBI arrested Sam Resto at his place of employment. He had a passport in his backpack, and was getting ready to flee according to prosecutors.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York was working with the FBI in an investigation against Resto.
Resto told FBI Agents:
“I knew you were coming so I had my passport and I was making plans to flee. When you go into my residence you are gonna see something. I spray painted something.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney said:
“Resto’s actions not only destroyed essential public safety equipment paid for by the people of New York City, he placed personal safety of those living in the neighborhood and their private property into harm’s way.”
FBI Assistant Director Sweeney also said:
“Today’s federal charges are the community’s message back to Mr. Resto and others who may choose to engage in this type of criminal behavior – we will not tolerate crimes of this magnitude and their consequences will be significant.”
When FBI Agents entered Resto’s apartment in Elmhurst, the first thing they saw was a taunt “TOO LATE” scrawled on his apartment wall. There was also a smiley face with its tongue sticking out.
When agents then searched Resto’s apartment, they found “The Anarchist’s Cookbook”. This book contained instructions for making explosives, as reported by the Post.
The Brooklyn federal prosecutors requested from the judge that there be no bail set for Resto.
They used his intention to flee and the scrawled taunting on his wall to provide evidence that he would flee if given the chance. The Brooklyn federal judge agreed with them ordered Resto to be held without bail.
A Queens man who allegedly set a police car on fire in July spray-painted “TOO LATE!” on his wall to taunt agents before being taken into custody. https://t.co/iYMMOEIYXJ
— Breitbart News (@BreitbartNews) August 16, 2020
The Attorney’s Office said:
“The charges in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. If convicted, Resto faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment.”
Resto was caught on camera, and The U.S Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of New York provided details of the report:
“Resto approached the van, smashed the window with a blunt object, poured gasoline into the interior and set the vehicle on fire before fleeing east towards Central Park.
The NYPD subsequently recovered a backpack in the park belonging to Resto containing, among other things, clothing similar to items Resto was seen wearing earlier that morning, a Guy Fawkes mask, a red jerry can that smelled of gasoline, and hammer and lighters.”
The Brooklyn prosecutors wrote in a detention memo that the FBI started surveilling Resto on July 29, when he caught a Rideshare from his home to the Upper West Side.
He was carrying a red can of gas. Resto was observed, via security cameras, at 3:50 a.m. wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, smashing in the window of an NYPD Ford Fusion parked at West 83rd Street near Columbus Avenue, doused the inside of the vehicle with gas, and light it on fire.
Sam Resto’s fingerprints were found on the gas can used in the crime. Resto was arrested on July 10 for swinging a chain at another person while fighting over a parking space. On July 15, he was arrested for obstructing traffic during a demonstration while on the Brooklyn Bridge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Keilty wrote in the detention memo:
“Resto’s criminal conduct had escalated posing a severe and ongoing risk to the community.”
Sam Resto’s scrawling provocation “TOO LATE” and a happy face with its tongue sticking out was not successful. The FBI and Eastern District Federal Prosecutors got the last laugh.
NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea commented:
“I thank our NYPD detectives, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, and all of our law enforcement partners for their tireless work in ensuring our common mission of protecting life and public safety.”
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