A Black man in Mesquite, Texas, was shot twice by police after he could not disarm the alarm on his pickup truck.
Last Wednesday Lyndo Jones, 31, was believed to be breaking into his own vehicle when officers approached him. After one officer shot him he was charged with evading arrest or detention.
The charge was dropped Tuesday because it “may be inhibiting his treatment and access to his family,” police Lt. Brian Parrish told The Dallas Morning News.
But, he added, the charge may be revisited later.
Jones, who was unarmed, was sitting in his own vehicle when police responded to a call about a possible burglary in progress.
According to police, Jones attempted to run upon exiting the vehicle. An officer fired at Jones and a struggle ensued as Jones scuffled with police, authorities told The Dallas Morning News. According to the publication, “[Jones] continued to fight until three more officers arrived and handcuffed him, police said.”
But Jones and his attorney told a different account.
Jones told Fox 4 that when officers approached him in the truck “with flashlights in his eyes and guns drawn,” he at first argued about why they were confronting him. But when he did exit the vehicle reportedly with his hands up an officer shot him “seemingly seconds later,” according to Fox 4.
“I looked at the ground. He said, ‘What’ He had this look on his face with his gun in his hand looking at me,” Jones told the news outlet. “And he shot me. Boom! He shot me. He spit after. He said, ‘What’ He shot me. Boom. Then he spit.”
At some point officers conducted an anal cavity search.
“I’m handcuffed, and he was fumbling with my behind,” he told Fox 4. “I said, ‘What is you doing Call an ambulance!’ That’s what I’m telling him.”
The officer who shot Jones has been identified as Derick Wiley, a 10-year veteran with the force. He is reportedly on paid administrative leave.
Similarly, NBC 5 in Dallas reported Jones as saying he had no time to react, much less run away.
“That man asked me to get on the ground and before I could even get on the ground I looked at the ground with my hands up in his face and he shot me,” Jones said. “[He] didn’t give me no time to get on no ground or nothing.”
According to a statement from Jones’ attorneys, officers attempted to perform the anal cavity search after Jones was shot in the abdomen.
“Mr. Jones reacted to the unlawful sodomy and was consequently shot a second time in the back,” the attorneys stated.
Jones was admitted to Baylor Medical Plaza’s Intensive Care Unit, where he was handcuffed to his bed and denied family visitation, his attorneys said. Jones’ counsel also stated that their client was questioned without their presence.
Parrish, the police spokesperson, said Jones’ attorneys did not have to be present because they were not questioning him about the charges but rather about the shooting.
After six days in the hospital Jones has since been released but is still recovering. He was seen leaving the hospital in a wheelchair.
“I’m in pain in my stomach, the top part of my back and under my arm,” Jones said, according to NBC 5 in Dallas. “My body is so tight. It’s like someone is pushing on me and I can’t even breathe.”
An investigation is taking place. According to The Dallas Morning News, any body cam footage of the incident “is likely to become public during the grand jury’s investigation.”
