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Sheriff T.K. Waters disputes woman's complaints from December crash with body camera footage

The sheriff says alleged misconduct is "disproved" after body camera video from a Dec. 3 crash, the focus of a rally Friday, is released.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville Sheriff's Office is disputing a woman's version of events about how she was treated during a December traffic crash.

Sheriff T.K. Waters said during a press conference on Wednesday that the rally where the woman gave a tearful account of the crash last Friday, pushed an anti-police narrative about misconduct, prompting JSO to conduct an internal investigation. In that investigation, Waters said they found "no misconduct of any kind." JSO published body camera video from three officer's cameras.

The Rev. Pastor Reginald Gundy on Friday presented the crash as a reason the agency needs a Civilian Review Board.

Emogene King, 30, spoke about her experience with JSO. King was involved in the crash. She told reporters she was driving along Interstate 10 between Cassat and McDuff Avenues around 1:46 a.m. Dec. 3 when another car swerved into her lane. To avoid being hit by the other car, King said she tried to swerve out of the way and ended up crashing into the median. 

King remembers her leg was badly hurt and she was bleeding heavily. She said the EMTs on the scene were afraid she was going to bleed out. Instead of allowing EMTs to take her to the hospital, King said JSO officers accused her of drinking and doing drugs, which JSO disputes.

Gundy called the incident "dehumanizing." King was eventually taken to the hospital and underwent surgery. She said the officers came back to the hospital to administer another breathalyzer test and another round of questioning while she was recovering. She does not remember their visit because of the surgery and medicine she was given. 

"I don't really like to talk about it right now. But, I just feel like I was a victim and not a criminal in that situation, and I should have been treated better. I don't have a record, I've never done anything," King said during the rally.

Officers did not conduct a DUI investigation, Waters said. FHP's report did not state that King was impaired and there was no suspicion of DUI, according to Waters.

King stated that JSO officers yelled at her, though the footage shows limited interactions with her, due to EMS responding and FHP handling the investigation. King said her mother was not allowed towards the scene. Body camera footage showed her mother responding on scene and discussing King's condition with an officer.

Waters said officers handled the scene "mannerly and respectfully in both tone and language." The only time officers interacted with King was to get her to consent to transport for medical care, Waters said.

The sheriff went on to say the agency needed to move her car and avoid creating a "bigger issue." King's mother can be heard in the footage shouting at King for her to leave the car, which was blocking lanes of I-10. A witness who pulled up to the crash said King was asking her about what happened in the car.

Officers at the scene warn family members about the possibility of a secondary crash due to the number of cars that were on the interstate.

King also said the other vehicle involved was not being investigated. Waters said because King's vehicle was the only one at the crash, it's investigated as a single-vehicle crash by FHP.

Waters said he had no idea why King made the statements.

Waters concluded by disputing the need for a civilian review board. He also disputed Gundy's claim that he wouldn't meet with him and Waters said he was not opposed to it.

"JSO did not lie. (Gundy) failed to adequately check the facts. And driven by his personal agenda he spewed a series of falsehoods to undermine the public's trust in the police which we've been working very hard to restore," Waters said. "... Mr. Gundy's call for citizen's review boards while raising emotionally-driven, factually false allegations of misconduct explains exactly why and I am and will remain opposed to citizen's review boards."

3:20 p.m. UPDATE: Gundy's and King's responses to Waters' comments.

During a press conference Wednesday with Gundy and King, King stated the body camera began filming after the incidents, including the breathalyzer test. 

“The video should’ve started way before then," King said. "That video that was shown on the news was the aftermath of him talking to me like that, him doing a breathalyzer, him cursing my auntie out, telling her to go move her car, he’s gonna take her to jail. That’s her walking back from her car from telling her to move it for her.”

Gundy said he had not watched the released body camera footage, though King had, and she again disputed JSO's official account. King's mother backed up King's statements, though she did not want to appear on camera during the press conference.

Gundy said JSO needed to change its culture and he called for the establishment of a civilian review board.

"I'm not stopping until we get to the bottom of this," Gundy said.

 

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