Tuesday, May 5, 2015

The pickup driver saw Wilson pause

Pickup Driver was sitting in a pickup truck that was stopped northwest of Darren Wilson's police vehicle. He was near-sighted but was not wearing eyeglasses. He was trying to maneuver to make a U-turn to depart back toward West Florissant Drive. The U-turn was difficult, because he was boxed in by cars behind and in front of him.


Black = Pickup Truck
Green = Minivan
Blue = Police Vehicle
Red = Monte Carlo
Pickup Driver thought that he saw only Michael Brown -- never Dorian Johnson -- during the incident. Pickup Driver did see Johnson behind the Monte Carlo, but thought he saw Brown there. Pickup Driver thought mistakenly that Brown ran from the police vehicle and paused behind the Monte Carlo, leaning on its trunk, on the curb side. 

Apparently, Pickup Driver looked away from Brown for a moment -- looking instead for a U-turn route that would not collide with the minivan in front of him -- while Brown was running away from the police vehicle. Then, when Pickup Driver looked back toward Brown, he saw Johnson and mistook him for Brown. 


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In Pickup Driver's confused narration, he indicated that Wilson ran past Brown (i.e. Johnson) and then paused and turned back, seeming to focus on Brown (i.e Johnson). Pickup Driver told a detective:
And then all of sudden I heard the shot, POW, and then the boy took off and ran .... about two three car-lengths and put his hands on the back of a brown -- I think it was a -- Mercury. .... 
Then the officer got out of the truck. He had his gun down to the side. He going down-side from the driveway, though he going back to the truck, like trying to keep him in sight, and then boy took his hands off the truck.
[Page 11]

The brown Mercury was the white Monte Carlo, which was about one car-length behind the police vehicle. The person with his hands on the car's back was Johnson, not Brown. 

The expression going down-side from the driveway meant that Wilson ran beyond the parking lot's driveway -- beyond the Mercury (i.e. Monte Carlo). 

The expression he going back to the truck, like trying to keep him in sight describes Wilson's pause. The truck was the police vehicle. The expression trying to keep him in sight indicates that Wilson glanced back at Brown (i.e. Johnson), who was standing behind the Mercury (i.e. the Monte Carlo).  

In other words, Pickup Driver was distracted by his effort to make a U-turn, and so he came to misunderstand the situation, which he could not see well, because he was near-sighted and was not wearing glasses. Pickup Driver thought that Brown ran behind the Monte Carlo and leaned on its trunk. Then Wilson walked past the Monte Carlo and Brown. Wilson walked some distance further and then paused and looked back at Brown. 

At that point, Pickup Driver distracted himself again, trying to make a U-turn. Then when he looked again down Canfield Drive, he saw Brown moving northwest toward Wilson (back toward Pickup Driver). 

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Thus, Pickup Driver described Wilson's pause, which was described also by Fiancée Brady ...
The officer [Wilson] was walking behind him [Brown] steady, opening fire, shooting. ....  
I asked my fiancé, I said, "Well, I guess the guy [Brown] got away, because I don't see him [Wilson] walking anymore."  
[Pages 1-3]

.... and by Michael Brady .... 
The guy with the dreads [Johnson] was the [my] main focus, as I'm still noticing that the officer is shooting straight [at Brown's back], but I'm looking at him [Johnson] because I'm thinking the officer is [inaudible]. 
There is a pause by the time he [Wilson] went past [the Monte Carlo]. There is a pause right there during his shooting, when I was thinking  he [Wilson] was going to go to his [Brown's] friend [Johnson] and shoot him [Johnson]. That's why I was mainly focusing on him [Johnson] at that point. 
[Pages 33 - 34

None of these three witnesses -- Pickup Driver, Fiancée Brady or Michael Brady -- saw that Wilson's pause coincided with Brown's stopping and turning around at Coppercreek Court. Therefore, all three deduced mistakenly that Wilson paused in order to look back at Johnson and the Monte Carlo. 

Wilson himself said later that he never paid any attention to Johnson or the Monte Carlo. It is likely that Wilson indeed did pause and look back behind himself to check that general area. Seeing no threats in his rear, Wilson then turned back toward Brown for their final confrontation. 

This pause was not described by three other witnesses -- Dorian Johnson, MC Owner or MC Passenger. At the moment of Wilson's pause, those three were preoccupied with hiding Johnson down in front of the Monte Carlo's front passenger seat.  

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Below are more of Pickup Driver's statements about Wilson's chase and pause. 

Pickup Driver told a detective that Brown ran to a car that was only a couple of car-lengths beyond the police vehicle.
Black male took off running. He ran down the street. In my mind, I thought he maybe got hit, because he couldn't run that far. He run about maybe three car-lengths or two. There was a brown car sitting there. He put his hand on the back of the brown car. Then the officer got out the truck. ....
I heard the shot, and then the boy took off and ran about two, three car lengths and put his hands on the back of a brown -- I think it was a -- Mercury. .... And then the officer got out of the truck.
[Pages 3 and 11]
Pickup Driver told the grand jury that Brown paused behind the car, on the curb side.
Pickup Driver  I see Michael hit him [Wilson] a couple times, and then all of the sudden I see the officer lean over, one of his hands disappear.
Then ... I heard a shot, POW, and Mike Brown took off running.
Prosecutor  What did Michael Brown do when you heard POW?
Pickup Driver  He took off running.
And then the officer got out of his truck, and the officer had his gun down to his side like that. Looked like the officer was reaching up to his thing he had on his shirt that he talked through.
Then the kid ran a piece off. And he stopped, he was behind a car, looked like he had both of his hands on the car ... Michael Brown.
And then the officer was coming towards him and then look like Michael Brown started coming back towards the officer.
That's the last I saw of him. I was turned around like this, I was backing out, turned around. I seen it was clear. I took off. I heard three more shots right before I started forward, like pow, pow, pow, like that.
That was the last that I saw until I heard the rest on the news.
[Pages 23 - 25] 
Pickup Driver  Michael Brown probably run about two-and-a-half car-lengths or maybe three, something like that. ....
Prosecutor  Was Michael Brown running or was he walking?
Pickup Driver  He was running. And then it looked like he couldn't go no further. He stopped and put his hand on the back of the car.
I recall that car was brown or gold or something like that, as far as I can recall.
It looked like Michael Brown .... took his hands off the car and was coming towards the officer. ...
Michael Brown was running and he [Wilson] is coming behind him. It look like Michael Brown just got tired all at once or couldn't run no further, and put his hand on the back of the car.
And then the police still coming at him. He [Brown] took his hand off the car and was walking a towards the police ... walking or running, I'm not sure, but he was coming towards the officer and that's the last I saw. ....
Prosecutor  When you saw Michael Brown, you said he ran a good piece, and then he stopped and he put his hands on the back of the car.  Was this a car that was in the roadway?
Pickup Driver  Yes, it was parked [facing] back towards West Florissant. ...
Prosecutor  Did it appear that it was parked out in the street?
Pickup Driver  It was stopped like somebody stayed there.
Prosecutor  Like somebody else who had to stop?
Pickup Driver  No, there was no one in that car, I remember that. ... I didn't see anyone in that car. ....
Prosecutor  Was it regular car or an SUV or a van?
Pickup Driver  It look something like a Mercury, one of the older Mercuries. ...
Prosecutor  Michael Brown put both of his hands on the back of that car?
Pickup Driver  Right. ...
Prosecutor  Michael Brown was a tall guy, a big guy. ... When you say the back of the car, was it like on the trunk area?
Pickup Driver  Right, it was on the trunk. ... 
Prosecutor  When he was staying there with his hands on the trunk of the car, did the officer continue to move toward him?
Pickup Driver  The officer continued towards him. .... 
He [Brown] is behind the car, but right on the edge. .... He was on this side ... toward the curb. .... It looked like he got tired. .....
Prosecutor  There was a car in front of you, and you were worried about hitting that car, right?
Pickup Driver  Right, before I turned around. I was turning around. 
[Pages 27 - 35]
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