**WARNING: The video released by Gainesville Police Department is unedited and may be disturbing. You will see officers’ attempts to save a man’s life. He does not survive. You will also hear many expletives. We have posted it at the bottom of this story and restricted it to viewers 18 and older.
GAINESVILLE, FL (352today.com) – The Gainesville Police Department (GPD) has released an officer’s bodycam video of the traffic stop that turned into a water rescue.
The incident began just after midnight on Thursday, Nov. 16, when an officer tried to pull over a man on suspicion of a stolen scooter near the 2400 block of NE Sixth Avenue.
They say the man ditched the bike, ran into the woods, ended up in a pond and then couldn’t get out. Officers had to go into the water to rescue him. Once on shore, they attempted life-saving measures which were ultimately not successful.
The Latest
On Tuesday, Nov. 21, GPD released an officer’s body camera video of the entire incident and identified the man who died as 27-year-old Tyreick Jamal Lewis.
“In the interest of transparency and accountability, the Gainesville Police Department is releasing un-redacted body camera footage related to a recent traffic stop and drowning incident,” said GPD in a post on its Facebook page.
The post goes on to say, “Prior to releasing the footage to the public and media, Gainesville Police Department leadership met with Mr. Lewis’ mother to view the footage privately and to answer her questions.”
352today has reviewed the more than 32-minute video and here is a synopsis of what you see and hear in the footage.
Description of the Bodycam Video
A K-9 officer attempts the traffic stop, getting out of the car saying, “Stop! Show me your hands before you get dog bit.”
A few moments later, the officer gets the dog out of the car and the canine begins barking on command.
Officer 1: “Come out with your hands up or the dog’s going to bite you!”
Nearly eight minutes into the video another officer arrives on the scene. At that point, both officers enter the wooded area to begin searching for Lewis.
Less than three minutes later, they discover Lewis in a pond in distress. They yell to him instructing him to come out of the water.
Officer 1: “Swim out.”
Officer 2: “I ain’t coming in there bro. Keep bouncing. Do you hear me? Keep bouncing. Can you make it back to us?”
Lewis: Groans.
Officer 2: “Can you talk? If I come in there and you start resisting, we’re going to have a problem.”
Officer 1 instructs another officer who has now arrived on scene to go get his 30-foot (leash) out of his car.
Officer 1: “Come this way. I can throw you a rope man.”
About 11 minutes into the video, Officer 2 starts to enter the water.
Officer 2: “Keep coming. This (expletive) is thick.”
Officer 1 to dispatch: “I need EMS here on standby. He’s not doing good in the pond. We’re trying to get him to come out.”
Officer 1 to Lewis: “Come on man. Swim out this way.”
Lewis: Groans.
Office 1 to Lewis: “Swim out man. Come on.”
Lewis: Groans.
Officer 1 to Lewis: “Come to me. We can help you. We can give you a rope. You gotta move this way. Move this way.”
Officer 2: “Keep coming. Come to me brother.”
Officer 2 to fellow officer: “Where are you with the rope?”
Lewis utters something that sounds like, “Help.”
Officer 2: “Keep bouncing bro. Oh (expletive). Keep breathing.”
Officer 2 to fellow officer: “Hurry. Hurry.”
Officer 2 to Lewis: “Keep breathing. Keep your head up.”
Officer 2 to fellow officers: “I need a (expletive) rope.”
Lewis: Groans
Officer 2: “I’m coming.”
At 12 and a half minutes into the video, Officer 2 enters the pond with the leash while other officers assist from the shore.
At 13 minutes in, Officer 2 tosses the rope in Lewis’ direction. Because of the distance and the darkness, you can’t see Lewis from the body camera.
Officer 2: “Somebody get on the (expletive) end of this rope.”
A second officer enters water.
Officer 2: “Keep your head up. Keep your head up. Keep your head up. Keep your head up.”
About 30 seconds later, a third officer enters the water.
Officer 2: “Pull. Pull. Pull. Pull. Pull. Pull.”
Officer 1 to dispatch: “We’re about to start CPR Gainesville.”
A little more than four minutes after officers discovered Lewis in the pond, they have him on the shore and you can see in the video they begin performing CPR.
Officer 1 to dispatch: “CPR started. I need EMS hot. CPR started.”
Officer 1 to Lewis: “Come on buddy. Come on dude.”
For the next several minutes, officers rotate performing CPR on Lewis.
Officer 1: “Come on buddy. Breathe. You got it. You got it.”
Officer 1 to fellow officers: “I think he’s breathing.”
You can see they slide Lewis onto a backboard and another officer who has arrived says he has a weak pulse. From there, they move him to the roadway and continue performing CPR and pumping air through a mask.
The Gainesville Fire Department arrives on the scene several minutes later and takes over the life-saving measures from the officers.
Someone in the distance asks how long he was under the water.
Officer 1: “We don’t know. A couple minutes or so. But when we saw him, he had his head up but he was struggling and then was going under. Under without coming back up for maybe like a minute. Maybe.”
By this time, between the police and fire departments, there are at least a dozen first responders on the scene.
Approximately 24 minutes into the video, GPD officers are congregated and Officer 2 who was the lead officer in the water rescue reflects on what transpired.
Officer 2 to fellow officers: “I’m going to be honest with you. You guys saved my life. I wrapped that leash around my (expletive) wrist like I did. And (expletive) grabbed onto him because I wasn’t giving up. If you all weren’t able to pull me, I was done too. I mean my (expletive) boots were just (expletive). I should have taken them off.”
The officer compared the pond condition to sludge.
Officer 2: “I worked my way out to him and he’s under at this point. I’m down there trying to dig for him and all I feel is (expletive) hair.”
He goes on to say that he finally got ahold of the man under his armpit.
The officer then asks if Lewis is breathing. No one seems to respond but based on the officers’ reactions it’s apparent that Lewis is not going to make it.
Moments later, Officer 1 walks away.
Officer 1 to another officer: “It’s (expletive) stupid.”
The officer responds attempts to console Officer 1 saying, “They wouldn’t have known where he was at until he’s (expletive) floating face up three weeks later. This ain’t on you. Don’t (expletive) let it be like that either.”
Officer 1 can be heard sniffling as the colleague continues to provide verbal support.
Officer 1: “It’s not that dude. It should not have been us going into that water. It should have been an (expletive) dog.”
A little more than 29 minutes into the video, Officer 1 can be seen resting her arms on a fence and crying.
Lewis’ History
A check of Alachua County court records shows Lewis has had multiple run-ins with law enforcement over the last 10 years. Records indicate he had at least five misdemeanor convictions for theft and traffic violations; along with more than a dozen arrests on traffic, drug, trespass and other charges. Some of those cases were dropped for a variety of reasons.
Police Position
In its release, GPD stated that it extended its deepest sympathies to Lewis’ family and loved ones.