PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — Providence officials released police body camera video Monday of the aftermath of a moped crash that left a 24-year-old man in a coma, but the new video does not help resolve whether a police cruiser made contact with the moped beforehand.
Witnesses have said a cruiser following the moped made contact, although three previously released videos are inconclusive.
The state attorney general is investigating the Oct. 18 crash that seriously injured Jhamal Gonsalves to determine whether there is any criminal liability.
The five videos released Monday were made public in the interest of transparency, Providence Public Safety Commissioner Steven Pare said at a news conference, but he called on any witnesses or anyone with additional video to come forward.
“I don’t know how much additional light they shed over the other videos that we have seen,” Mayor Jorge Elorza said.
The videos show an officer pulling Gonsalves away from the moped and checking for a pulse. Officers also move a stop sign that had been knocked over and move the moped.
An officer, thinking Gonsalves was overdosing, administered the opioid reversal drug naloxone.
Officers also discuss the possibility that Gonsalves, who is wearing a helmet, suffered a head injury.
Gonsalves’ family was shown the video over the weekend, and “parts of the video were particularly upsetting and extremely difficult for them to watch,” according to their attorney, Jude Kerrison.
Gonsalves was injured as police responded to reports of hundreds of dirt bikes, ATVs and other street-illegal vehicles roaring through the city. The crash led to two nights of protests that sometimes turned violent and resulted in arrests.
Gonsalves’ family has disavowed the violence.
The officer driving the cruiser that was behind Gonsalves has been placed on administrative duty.
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