After an assault suspect died in custody, the Dallas Police Department released bodycam footage showing the emergency response.
Jerrell Johnson, 41, assaulted a woman at a convenience store on July 13, where he robbed money from the cash register, said Deputy Chief William Griffith in a video online. As The Dallas Express previously reported, police arrested him near 5600 Lemmon Ave., and he died on the way to the hospital.
Johnson was a registered sex offender, previously convicted for “indecency with a child by exposure.” His victim was a 14-year-old girl.
The department released the 911 call and bodycam footage that occurred on July 13, showing the events leading up to Johnson’s death.
Police received a 911 call about Johnson at 3:49 p.m. that day, Griffith said. He had entered a business, where he “was causing a disturbance by acting erratically.” Johnson spat in a man’s face and pushed past him while leaving.
“A dude just came here trippin’. He’s breaking sh*t in the store, robbing sh*t,” the 911 caller told police.
Then at 3:51 p.m., he went next door to a convenience store, according to Griffith. There, he demanded money and ran behind the counter. The employees tried to hide in an office, but he forced the door open.
“He grabbed the female employee by the neck, pulled her back to the cash register, and forced her to open it before taking the money inside,” Griffith said.
He assaulted her. She broke free and ran outside, but Johnson followed.
“He won’t get off of her,” the 911 caller said at the time. In the bodycam footage, witnesses said “he started stripping her naked,” and “he literally pulled everything off.”
The 911 caller said customers were fighting Johnson. “Several witnesses intervened and separated the victim from Mr. Johnson until police arrived,” Griffith said.
An officer pulled up to the scene at 3:55 p.m., where he found Johnson lying on the ground in the parking lot, the footage shows.
“Roll over! Do it now! Are you f*cking listening? Do it,” the officer said.
He rolled Johnson over and cuffed him. Johnson rolled on his side and stared at him in silence, sweating and breathing heavily.
“Can you talk? Sit up,” the officer said. He wanted to lie down, so the officer let him.
Eventually, the officer sat Johnson up to get his information. When the officer asked his name, all he could say was, “Where’s my money?”
“I don’t know where your money is, I don’t know why your pants are down either, sir,” the officer replied.
When officers realized Johnson couldn’t hold himself up, they called for medical help around 4:05 p.m. A medic with Dallas Fire-Rescue responded at 4:17 p.m. and said he would “need a bus.”
After the ambulance arrived at 4:23 p.m., Dallas Fire-Rescue began performing CPR at 4:31 p.m. Johnson died that evening in Parkland Memorial Hospital, according to the Dallas County Medical Examiner. His cause of death at the time of publication was “pending.”
There, officers learned he was treated earlier that day for “symptoms of a drug overdose and excited delirium,” according to Griffith. He had been released from the hospital at 2:07 p.m. that afternoon.
“No officers used force during this incident,” Griffith said.