DALLAS — The 70-year-old man who died in Dallas police custody after a traffic accident last week went from debating the facts of the crash with an officer to pleading for medical attention in less than 30 minutes, according to body-worn camera footage released by the department Monday.
Police said that just before 1:30 a.m. Central time Wednesday, an officer, Fernando Gonzalez, witnessed Roy Whittaker hit a vehicle in the 9500 block of C.F. Hawn Freeway, near St. Augustine Drive.
The 24-minute video starts as Whittaker attempts to turn left on St. Augustine Drive, nearing the front of a vehicle that was waiting at a stop light, before backing up and turning again — after the light had turned red. The video does not clearly show if Whittaker’s car made contact with the other vehicle.
According to police, the vehicle that was reportedly struck in the accident left the scene and its driver did not return to make a report.
Gonzalez, who saw the incident as he was pulling out of a gas station parking lot, then follows Whittaker for roughly a minute before Whittaker stops.
“Hey man, do you know why I’m pulling you over?” Gonzalez asks.
Whittaker says no.
“You have no clue?”
“Well, I almost ran into him, but I didn’t hit that car or nothing,” Whittaker responds, later adding he had just left bingo.
Whittaker gives Gonzalez his license, but after a few minutes of being unable to find proof of car insurance, Gonzalez asks him to step out of the car and sit on the sidewalk.
“What did I do, sir?” Whittaker asks.
Exasperated, Gonzalez replies “You hit that car!”
Whittaker remains adamant he didn’t: “We didn’t hit each other, sir.”
“I was behind you, do you want me to show you the damage on your car?” Gonzalez asks. Whittaker agrees as three more officers, Darrien Robertson, Lihn Cam and Bryan Crenshaw, arrive at the scene.
The men walk to the front of Whittaker’s car and Gonzalez points out what appears to be damage near the driver’s-side tire. Due to the angle of Gonzalez’s camera, the extent of the damage is unclear, but there appear to be light markings that don’t match Whittaker’s dark car.
Gonzalez asks if the car had always looked like that, to which Whittaker says no.
Whittaker is then handcuffed and taken into custody for misdemeanor warrants out of Dallas, police said. As police pat him down and search his pockets, socks and shoes, Whittaker begins coughing and asking for something to drink.
An officer asks Whittaker what medical conditions he has, but Dallas police removed Whittaker’s response in the footage, in addition to any mention of the conditions from officers. Department spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said the personal information was muted to protect Whittaker’s privacy.
“Please help me,” Whittaker says while sitting on the sidewalk, and an officer calls for Dallas Fire-Rescue.
“Please, please, somebody,” he cries. An officer responds: “Try to relax, the ambulance is coming.”
Whittaker then lies down. The on-scene supervisor instructs the officers to remove Whittaker’s handcuffs while keeping him on his right side in “recovery position.”
An officer asks Whittaker to tell them his “medical problems” again. To Whittaker’s muted response, an officer replies, “Well, that is unfortunate.”
“Talk to me, how are you feeling?” an officer asks minutes later.
“Better,” Whittaker says.
Officers ask Whittaker questions to keep him alert until Dallas Fire-Rescue personnel arrive at 1:55 a.m. The footage ends as Whittaker is loaded onto a stretcher and then into an ambulance.
Police said CPR was performed on Whittaker in the ambulance before he arrived at a hospital at 2:27 a.m. Whittaker died at 2:42 a.m.
The Police Department’s special investigations unit is investigating the death. Police said Monday that autopsy and toxicology results are pending. The Dallas County district attorney’s office and the city’s Office of Community Police Oversight have also been notified, police said.
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