Cop Mistakes Wrong Man For Suspect, Runs Him Down With His Cruiser

Atlanta, GA — Warren Hill was walking through the parking lot of Mall West End last week when he suddenly found himself being run down by a police cruiser. An Atlanta police officer is now off the job after he was accused of running Hill over after mistaking him for a suspect.

“It hurt bad,” Hill told WSB-TV. “My head, my neck, my back, my whole body. You get hit by a car, what do you think is going to happen?”

According to Hill, the officer mistook him for a domestic violence suspect. Hill, who was afraid of the police, decided to try and get away from the officer. However, the officer apparently took the fact that Hill tried to avoid him as a threat or admission of guilt and decided to run over the man.

“I was trying to get away from the cops and I was scared of the cops, so I ran. So they thought I was the suspect and ran me down like a dog or an animal,” he said.

To add insult to injury, after police realized they had just run over the wrong person, they still arrested Hill. According to reports, they realized Hill had an outstanding warrant for missing his court date—for a broken taillight.

Hill, who was left with multiple injuries including a severely hurt leg will now likely file a lawsuit against the Atlanta Police Department. While the officer who ran him down will likely receive a paid suspension, the taxpayers will not be so lucky.

Hill was unarmed, was not threatening anyone, had not threatened anyone, and was minding his own business when this officer decided to run him over. The use of force in this incident was entirely over-the-top and unjust. Even if Hill had been the domestic violence suspect, the officers use of force would have still been unjustified.

Sadly, however, officers running over alleged suspects happens all too often.

As TFTP previously reported, a Prince George’s County police officer was found guilty of 2nd-degree assault in May after dashcam video showed him try to kill an unarmed pedestrian with his patrol car. Although the incident happened in June of 2016, the dashcam video was kept hidden from the public. After viewing it, you’ll know why.

On June 13, 2016, officer Juan Hernandez was responding to an incident of an alleged armed suspect. When Hernandez and his partner pulled up, the partner got out and chased the suspect on foot. Hernandez, however, decided to pursue him with his vehicle.

When the man turned and ran into a field, Hernandez accelerated and ran him down, proving that this man had every reason in the world to fear the police and run. Luckily for the alleged suspect, he went over the car instead of under it.

After running over the man, police found no weapons on him. However, after being run over by a crazed police officer, the suspect, 23-year-old Ulrich Boaoutou was charged with possession of a controlled substance, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and failure to obey a lawful order.

These incidents are similar to one the Free Thought Project covered in from May of 2013 when the two officers pulled over 23-year-old Najee Rivera on his motor scooter.

Police say Rivera got scared of the officers and drove off. Both of the officers wrote in their official reports that Rivera fell off of his scooter and hit the pavement.

According to the officers’ account, Rivera resisted arrest, tried to grab a police baton, and that’s when one of the officers hit him in the face. Rivera was subsequently charged with resisting arrest and aggravated assault.

Their entire account of what happened was a lie.

After they ran over the innocent man, Officers Kevin Robinson and Sean McKnight were charged with Aggravated Assault, Simple Assault, Criminal Conspiracy, Recklessly Endangering Another Person, Tampering with Public Records or Information, False Reports to Law Enforcement Authorities, Obstructing Administration of Law, and Official Oppression.

Sadly, last year, after a jury saw video of two cops run down an innocent man in their cruiser, beat him to a pulp, lie on the report, and cover it up, the corrupt cops were acquitted.