The Monte Carlo approached to within four feet of the police vehicle

Both MC Owner and MC Passenger said that the Monte Carlo followed Police Officer Darren Wilson's vehicle westward from the Northwinds Apartment Complex onto Canfield Drive in the Canfield Green Apartment Complex. When Wilson encountered Michael Brown and Dorian Johnson, he drove his police vehicle backward to block Brown's and Johnson's path. Doing so, Wilson inadvertently blocked the Monte Carlo's path too. I think that's a false story.

I, in contrast, think that the Monte Carlo came eastward from Canfield Drive's 3000 block, passed the walking Brown and Johnson, made a U-turn and then drove up close to the police vehicle.

In this article here, I will explain where the Monte Carlo was positioned from the moment when it stopped moving forward until the moment when the first gunshot was fired. 

* The car was not in the middle of the traffic lane, but closer to the curb.

* The car's front driver-side corner was about four feet from the police vehicle.

* The car seats were in line with the sewer. 

* The occupants' heads were at the center of the car's length.

* Their line of sight to Brown was blocked by the SUV's tinted rear windows. 

Blue Line = Monte Carlo's position before the first gunshot.
The occupants' heads were at the cross-bar.

The Monte Carlo's occupants both claimed they, from this position,
 could see, underneath the police vehicle, Brown's feet
moving on the vehicle's far side.

The police vehicle had driven backward and blocked Johnson and Brown. The Monte Carlo made a U-turn. Johnson gathered all the cigarillos and ran away laughing while Brown held the police vehicle's door shut. From their U-turn distance, MC Owner and MC Passenger could see, underneath the police vehicle, Brown's feet moving around on the police vehicle's far side. 

At MC Passenger's request, MC Owner drove the Monte Carlo close to the police vehicle and stopped so that they could listen to Brown and Wilson.  The Monte Carlo could have driven around the police vehicle easily if they had not stopped to listen. 

--------

The statements below are from the false story that MC Owner and MC Passenger told about following Wilson from Northwinds. I quote them because of the clues about where the Monte Carlo stopped. 

MC Owner told the grand jury that, as she approached the police vehicle, she swerved her Monte Carlo away from that vehicle and toward the curb. 

Prosecutor  When the officer drove back at the diagonal and hit the brake real hard, was he close to hitting your car?

MC Owner  Actually, he was close enough. He was like right there to where I couldn't even move. I thought as it [the police vehicle] was coming -- I was kind of shocked -- if he would have hit my car, but he didn't.

Prosecutor  Were you concerned that he was going came back?

MC Owner Yes, ma'am. I had to swerve over.

[Pages 113 - 114]

The Monte Carlo did not stop in the center of the traffic lane; rather it swerved and stopped closer to the curb. 

That statement of MC Owner should be combined with the statement of MC Passenger that, although the Monte Carlo did not stop "bumper-to-bumper" with the police vehicle, the distance between them was no more than four feet.  

MC Passenger in his testimony to the grand jury described the Monte Carlo's stop as follows:

MC Passenger That's when he [Wilson] came back real fast -- Officer Wilson -- and kind of catty-corner. The [police] car almost hit Mike Brown, and [Brown] jump back.

That's when we were actually behind the police car -- the Monte Carlo.

Prosecutor  So, where would you have been -- the Monte Carlo?

MC Passenger  I know we was right here, by this sewer -- a little bit in front of the [parking lot] entrance right here.

Prosecutor  Could you pass the [police] car, the police truck? Could you pass it?

MC Passenger  No.

Prosecutor  So you were blocked ... behind the police car?

MC Passenger  Yeah.

After that, I couldn't see [Brown] because it's a tinted window on the back of the truck.  

Somehow Mike Brown ended up by the window [on the] driver's side. So the only thing I could see is, under the car. .... From then I was just like seeing Mike Brown feet under the car ... just moving back and forth, and truck starts shaking two or three different times.

[Pages 157 - 159]

Grand Juror  Initially, before you back up, how far apart are your two cars? 

MC Passenger  It's wasn't bumper-to-bumper, but it might have been three or four feet, enough to see under an SUV.   

 [Pages 206 - 207]

In almost all his statements about that location, MC Passenger oriented himself about the sewer -- not around the fire hydrant or the driveway. Evidently, when he looked out his window, he saw prominently the sewer, so the fire hydrant was rather behind his head.

---------

Michael Brady said in a televised interview that the Monte Carlo was about five feet from the police vehicle.

--------

A good mental exercise is to look at the above photograph and try to imagine the vehicle movements described by MC Owner and MC Passenger. Johnson and Brown are walking in the middle of the street and Wilson drives backward to block their path. Meanwhile, the Monte Carlo is driving forward and stops because of the police vehicle's backward movement. The two vehicles stop in the indicated positions. 

Johnson ran north across Canfield Drive because Wilson and Brown made a loud noise

In my previous articles, I argued that Dorian Johnson ran away laughing from Police Officer Darren Wilson's vehicle in a southwest direction, along Canfield Drive's south side. Johnson then stopped, crossed Canfield Drive and stopped between the sidewalk and a tree. After the first gunshot was fired, he ran along the street's north side to the Monte Carlo. 

Johnson's route is illustrated below. 

THIS ILLUSTRATION IS WRONG. THIS ARTICLE IS BEING REWRITTEN.

PV = Police Vehicle
MC1 - Monte Carlo before first gunshot
MC2 = Monte Carlo after first gunshot
.
Passenger said that Johnson ran away on the south side of Canfield Drive
and stopped in front of 9391 Canfield Drive.
.
Balcony Brother said that Johnson ran toward the Monte Carlo
from a spot between the north sidewalk and a tree.

In this article here, I will speculate about the reason why Johnson stopped running southeast and then ran north across the street. 

Two remarkable actions occurred simultaneously:

1) Johnson changed his running direction. 

2) MC Passenger suddenly stopped watching Johnson and turned his attention back to the police vehicle. (The evidence was provided in this previous article.)

I speculate that these two simultaneous changes were caused by a loud noise made by Wilson and Michael Brown at the police vehicle. The noise caused Johnson and MC Passenger to realize that the incident was not a laughing matter. The first gunshot, which followed the noise, would confirm that realization. 

Later in this blog, I will tell in great detail about a witness named Michael Brady. In this article here, I will tell only about how his attention was attracted to the police vehicle by a loud noise. He was inside his apartment's bedroom when he heard the noise. The apartment location is indicated in this photograph's top-left corner. 

Yellow label in upper-left corner says "Michael Brady Apartment Balcony".
Blue lines converge on Brady's second-story balcony.
Police vehicle's location indicated by bright-yellow, vertical oval near left margin.

The photograph is from a Conservative Treehouse article, and a larger version can be seen here.

Through his bedroom's closed windows, Brady heard a strange noise. He described it as "some kind of ruffling .... some real tussling .... I was hearing lots of noises .... like hitting the door .... something just got my attention" (pages 10 and 14). 

I speculate that most of the loud noise was Brown yelling and kicking the police vehicle while he tried to grab Wilson's pistol. Whatever the noise was, it caused Brady to get up from his bed and to look out the window.

Whatever the loud noise was, it also caused Johnson to turn north and to run across the street for a different perspective on the police vehicle. It also caused MC Passenger to stop watching Johnson run and to turn forward to watch the police vehicle shaking. 

------

Visiting Sister-in-Law, who was quite far away, likewise told investigators that her attention was attracted by a strange, loud noise.

FBI SA  How did you know there was a confrontation?

Visiting Sister-in-Law  Well, I heard noise .... loud voices. 

[Page 8]

Attorney  You said you heard the commotion but you didn't see it. ... 

Visiting Sister-in-Law   It's just like you heard not voices, but something. 

Attorney  What about the voices made you think there was a commotion rather than a conversation?

Visiting Sister-in-Law  Because they were loud. It was loud enough to hear.

[Page 27]

.

Johnson ran toward the Monte Carlo after the first gunshot

In my previous article, I focused on the statements of Balcony Brother. In this article here, I will focus on the statements of his brother, Visiting Brother. The combination of both brothers' statements provides a reliable sequence of events surrounding Johnson's run toward the Monte Carlo. In particular, Johnson ran there immediately after Police Officer Darren Wilson fired his first gunshot from inside his police vehicle.

Following is the sequence of events. 

1) From his bedroom window, Balcony Brother watched Wilson's police vehicle back up and block Brown's and Johnson's path. Brown begin to accost Wilson at the vehicle.  Balcony Brother left his bedroom window before Johnson ran away from the vehicle.

2) Climbing up the apartment building's outside stairwell, Visiting Brother and Visiting Sister-in-Law likewise saw Wilson back up his vehicle and block Brown's and Johnson's path and saw Brown accost Wilson. Unlike Balcony Brother, they did see Johnson run away from the vehicle. 

3)  While Balcony Brother moved from his bedroom, through his living room and through the sliding glass door onto his balcony, Johnson ran away from the police vehicle.

When Balcony Brother came out onto his balcony, he saw Johnson standing near the tree in the photograph's bottom-right corner. Immediately after the first gunshot was fired inside the vehicle, Johnson ran toward the Monte Carlo, which had backed up to the driveway entrance in the photograph's upper-center.

4) After Balcony Brother came out onto his balcony and looked around, he saw Johnson standing near between the tree and the sidewalk on Canfield Drive's north side. 

5) Visiting Brother and Visiting Sister-in-Law went through the sliding glass door into the apartment but immediately turned around and joined Balcony Brother on the balcony. They too watched the scene from the balcony, but they focused on the police vehicle and did not notice Johnson.  

6) After the first gunshot was fired inside the police vehicle, Balcony Brother saw Johnson running on the sidewalk toward the Monte Carlo.   

7) The three witnesses retreated from the balcony back into the living room. They could see some of the event through the sliding glass door, but their view was obstructed. 

8) The three witnesses remained inside the apartment and heard the second gunshot. While they were inside the apartment, Johnson got into the Monte Carlo. 

7) When a silence continued for a while, the three witnesses came back out onto the balcony. At that moment, Brown was running up the street, away from the police vehicle. Then the three witnesses watched the final, fatal shooting of Brown. 

8) The white car drove away. After some discussion, the three witnesses agreed with Balcony Brother's supposition that Johnson might have entered into and departed inside the white car.  

Blue line = Monte Carlo
Black line = Police vehicle
Red lines = Johnson's run

A few hours after the incident, Visiting Brother was interviewed by a detective, who subsequently summarized his understanding of the incident's first part as follows. 

[Visiting Brother] said he and his wife pulled up to his [brother's] residence. As they exited the vehicle, [Visiting Brother] observed a police vehicle parked in the roadway. [Visiting Brother] saw a large person [Brown], whom he could not further describe, standing beside the driver's door of the vehicle. [Visiting Brother] said the person [Brown] had the upper portion of his body inside the driver's area of the vehicle. [Visiting Brother] said from his position, he could not hear any dialogue between the officer and the person.

[Visiting Brother] said he continued toward his [brother's] residence. While at the door, [Visiting Brother] heard what sounded like a gunshot. 

[Pages 50-51]

Visiting Brother's attention was attracted by the strange sight of Brown thrusting his upper body inside the vehicle. His attention toward the sight remained casual, however, until the first gunshot was heard. 

--------

On August 16, a week after the incident, Visiting Brother told a fuller story to another detective. Now he and his wife perceived that Brown was struggling with Wilson at the vehicle while Johnson ran away. He and his wife saw the struggle continuing as they came onto the balcony. Then the gunshot scared them off the balcony and into the apartment. 

Visiting Brother I see them [Brown and Wilson] going back and forth. Mike is going back and forth with the police officer, and then that's when we heard the gunshot go off. 

Then me and my wife and my brother run inside the house. We stay there about thirty seconds, and then we come back out. 

[Visiting Brother interrupts his narration and mentions earlier actions.] 

[While] Michael still was struggling with the officer ... his friend ran. 

[Visiting Brother returns to his narration.] 

He [Brown] broke off. He finally broke away from the police officer, and he started to run down the street. He got to the edge of the driveway. He looked at his hand, and he turned around and started walking back toward the police officer. 

Detective  Prior to that [Brown breaking away], you were in the apartment? 

Visiting Brother  Yes. 

Detective That's a second-floor apartment?

Visiting Brother  It is.

Detective  You guys were standing on the balcony?

Visiting Brother  Um hum [yes]. If you're standing on [Balcony Brother's] porch, you have a clear shot straight down Canfield. 

Detective  Who was on the porch with you?

Visiting Brother  My wife, my brother and [the elderly mother].

[Pages 4 - 6]

On October 2, Visiting Brother testified to the grand jury and further elaborated his narrative. I have emphasized some words in order to emphasize Visiting Brother's changing locations. He watched an early segment of the incident while climbing up the apartment building's outside stairwell and then watched later segments from his brother's balcony.

Pay attention to his remarks about the Monte Carlo. I will address those remarks at the end of this article.  

Me and my wife was going up the steps. Then we turned and looked back down Canfield because we saw the officer's truck going down the street. He stopped in the middle of the street .... Then I saw the two gentlemen walking down the street. I don't know if he [Darren Wilson] said something to them. I guess they said something to the officer, and then they kept walking. ....

It was about 15 seconds, maybe 20 seconds at the most. 

As he [Wilson] is talking to the gentlemen, there was another white vehicle pulled up behind him. 

When the gentlemen started walking down the street, he [Wilson] in turn threw his truck in reverse and pulled it like he was trying to block their way of going back down Canfield.....  

From that point I turned around, and I told my wife they're down there struggling. I mean, they're down there fighting or something. I couldn't tell exactly what was transpiring because I was on this [passenger] side of the truck, looking at what's going on. I couldn't see exactly if the gentleman [Brown] reached inside his truck or the officer reached and grabbed him or whatever.

But the other gentleman [Johnson], he stood down. He ran somewhere. There was a white car that was behind him [Wilson]. I don't know what happened with the white car, but then he [Johnson] took off.

At this point, it seems, Visiting Brother and Visiting Sister-in-Law walked the rest of the way up the stairwell, walked into the apartment, and then came back out onto the balcony and saw the struggle continuing.  

The prosecutor asks Visiting Brother to clarify that he changed the location from which he watched. 

Visiting Brother  Something happened. I heard a gunshot go off inside the truck. 

Prosecutor  Let me stop you. Are you still outside of the apartment?

Visiting Brother  I am. I'm standing on the porch, on the second [floor]. .... I can see the passenger side of the vehicle and the back .... I'm standing on the porch at an angle looking down, so I could see something going on, but I can't tell ... who grabbed who. I don't know because ... it happened on the driver's side of the vehicle.

Prosecutor  Okay. Who was engaged in the struggle? You said there was two boys or gentlemen walking and then the officer that was driving. who among those three were engaged?

Visiting Brother  Mr. Brown and the police officer.

Prosecutor  And then what happened? Then you heard a gunshot?

Visiting Brother  I heard a gunshot, and about another 20 seconds later, I heard another gunshot go off, maybe 15 seconds. Another shot goes off.

He [Brown] was still standing at the door, at the window, of the vehicle. They were still, I guess, struggling or going back and forth. 

Prosecutor  And then you heard another gunshot?

Visiting Brother  Another second gunshot.

Prosecutor  What, if anything, did he [Brown] do after the second?

Visiting Brother  He took off running. He started running down Canfield, this
direction. He was running in the street.

Prosecutor  Now, at this point are you still on the porch?

Visiting Brother  I am.

Prosecutor  Did you ever go inside?

Visiting Brother  Yes, I did. I stepped inside the door when the first gunshot went off. My family ran inside the door. Then we came back outside, -- because we didn't hear any more shooting -- to see what was going on. 

Prosecutor  So let me get this straight. Were you inside or outside when the first gunshot went off?

Visiting Brother  We were outside when the first gunshot went off.

Prosecutor  Were you inside or outside when the second gunshot [was fired]?

Visiting Brother  We were inside when the second gunshot went off.

Prosecutor  Okay. So you run inside. Were you fearful because the gunshots were going off?

Visiting Brother  Correct.

Prosecutor  And then you said he took off -- meaning, Michael Brown took off and started running down Canfield. Were you observing that from the inside of [Balcony Brother's] apartment or did you come back outside?

Visiting Brother  I came back outside. .... So, I saw Mr. Brown running down the street. .... He stopped right here at this driveway, and he turned around in the entrance of the driveway, about right there on the corner of the driveway. And he looked down at his hand ....

[Page 75 - 84]

A little later, the prosecutor asked Visiting Brother to confirm where the three witnesses were located at specific moments. 

Prosecutor  You saw the first gunshot. You were outside and looking when the first gunshot went off, but you were inside when the second gunshot went off?

Visiting Brother  Correct. 

Prosecutor  Were you looking when the second gunshot went off?

Visiting Brother  We were looking out the window. 

Prosecutor  So, was the officer still in the car for the second gunshot?

Visiting Brother  Yes, he was.

Prosecutor  And then Michael Brown takes off running after the second gunshot?

Visiting Brother  Uh-huh [yes].

[Page 86]

-------

Immediately after the first gunshot, Johnson began running toward the Monte Carlo and the three witnesses retreated from the balcony into the apartment. Therefore the three witnesses did not see Johnson get into the Monte Carlo. They could only guess that he did so. 

--------

During the October 2 interview, quoted above, Visiting Brother made the following remarks:

As he [Wilson] is talking to the gentlemen, there was another white vehicle pulled up behind him.  .....

But the other gentleman [Johnson], he stood down. He ran somewhere. There was a white car that was behind him [Wilson]. I don't know what happened with the white car, but then he [Johnson] took off.

I am skeptical that Visiting Brother paid attention to the white Monte Carlo during the incident. 

On the other hand, Balcony Brother certainly did pay attention to that car, explaining specifically how Johnson ran toward it and speculating that Johnson must have gotten into it. As the two brothers discussed the incident with each other, I speculate that Balcony Brother influenced Visiting Brother to remember seeing it and to relate it to Johnson's actions. 

If, however, Visiting Brother's memory of the Monte Carlo approaching the police vehicle during Wilson's initial encounter with Brown and Johnson is genuine, then that is evidence contradicting my speculation about the Monte Carlo making a U-turn while the police vehicle backed up. 

Johnson stopped at a tree near Copper Creek Court

A quartet of witnesses watched much of the incident from a second-story apartment overlooking Canfield Drive. One of them reported that Dorian Johnson ran from a tree near Copper Creek Court toward the Monte Carlo. 

PV = Police Vehicle
MC = Monte Carlo after it backed up

DJ = Dorian Johnson's position near the tree.
From the tree, he ran toward the Monte Carlo.

Copper Creek Court is at the upper blue arrow's point (near the tree).
Copper Creek Court is not near the arrow's beginning (near the words).

BB = Balcony Brother's bedroom.
(The balcony itself is just off the photograph.)

The photo's top side points southeast.
The photo's left side points northeast.

1) An elderly African-American woman who lived in the apartment. She did not provide any publicly known statements to the investigators. 

2) The elderly woman's 62-year-old African-American son, who lived in the apartment. The grand jury designated him as Witness 14, and the US Department of Justice designated him as Witness 112. I will call him Balcony Brother. More than the other three witnesses, he watched the incident from his apartment's balcony (also called a porch and a patio).

3) The elderly woman's 51-year-old African-American son, the brother of Balcony Brother. This younger son was visiting the apartment during the incident. The grand jury designated him as Witness 17, and the US Department of Justice designated him as Witness 110. I will call him Visiting Brother.

4) A 48-year-old African-American woman, the wife of Visiting Brother. The grand jury designated her as Witness 18, and the US Department of Justice designated her as Witness 111. I will call her Visiting Sister-in-Law.

For this article, the most important of these witnesses is Balcony Brother, since only his published statements provided details about the actions of Dorian Johnson. He indicated in his statements that the other three witnesses generally agreed with his own statements about Johnson's actions. 

This picture shows the location of Balcony Brother's apartment.

PV = Police Vehicle    MC = Monte Carlo (moved back after first gunshot)
Red Line = Balcony Brother's line of sight to the police vehicle
Tree = Place where Johnson started running toward the Monte Carlo.
Building 5 stands immediately north of the tree.

A previous article described the apartment buildings' standard features.

Balcony Brother was sitting in his bedroom and looking northwest up Canfield Drive. He saw the police vehicle drive backwards and block Dorian Johnson and Michael Brown. As the confrontation at the vehicle developed, Balcony Brother left his bedroom and moved to his living room, where a sliding glass door opened onto his balcony.

As he was moving thus, Visiting Brother and Visiting Sister-in-Law were walking up an outside staircase to the balcony and watching the police vehicle. Just after Balcony Brother came out through the sliding glass door onto the balcony, the couple walked into the apartment through the same door. When the couple heard the first gunshot, they came back out onto the balcony. 

Balcony Brother told two detectives that he began moving from his bedroom when the police vehicle was backing up. When he came out onto his balcony and resumed watching, Brown and Wilson were struggling through the vehicle's window. 

I always sit on the second floor at my bedroom window. I can look straight down Canfield toward West Florissant. I was [sitting so] at that time. I was looking out the window, and I happened to see two young men coming down the street. They were in the middle of the street, and I was like: "What the heck are they doing? Why are they in the middle of the street?" ..... 

Then I saw the police truck. He passed them a few feet, and then he backed up. When he backed up I knew something was about to happen. I went to the [sliding glass] door and I came out and stood on the porch.  

By the time I got there they were tussling in the car. .... They were wrestling in the truck. When he was wrestling with him, I saw something fly. I don't know if it was a hat or something. Then I heard a shot. "Pow."  

[Page 3]

Balcony Brother specified the locations of everyone in his apartment at the moment of the first gunshot:

When he [Wilson in the police vehicle] start back up, I'm looking at these two guys [Brown and Johnson]. I say, "something's going on". 

I ran to the front [sliding glass door]. It's not far from my [bedroom] door -- my bedroom to my front door.

My brother and his wife had just got there. They were coming in, and when they heard the first [gunshot] they spun around. 

I had walked out. ... I had the door open, and I'm looking. They [Visiting Brother and Visiting Sister-in-Law] turn around. They were right behind me. I was standing in the windows [i.e. sliding glass door]. We had these patio doors, and I was standing right there. We weren't going to let [elderly mother] come out.

[Page 9]

Balcony Brother specified Johnson's location at the moment of the first gunshot. Johnson was near a tree on the street's north side. 

Detective Where was he [Johnson] when you saw the struggle going on in the car? 

Balcony Brother  He was on the sidewalk on the north side .... close to a tree that's right there. There's a tree up in the yard. Here's the memorial where they got all the bears tied on a lamp post. Behind that lamp post is a tree. 

Detective So he was by that tree? 

Balcony Brother  He was by that tree.

When he heard the shot, he went [toward the police vehicle]. He had moved back there [to the tree] because they was struggling, and he was over there. The next thing I know, he was gone. 

Detective  You're saying when the shot went off -- which shot? 

Balcony Brother  The first shot. 

Detective  In the car? 

Balcony Brother    Right. 

Detective  .... Which way did he run to? 

Balcony Brother  Toward West Florissant [i.e. toward the police vehicle]. 

Detective  So, the other male [Johnson] takes off running towards West Florissant, right? 

Balcony Brother  Right. 

There was a white car sitting right here, before the next driveway. .... It was stopped on Canfield ... facing toward West Florissant.  And we truly believe that he jumped in that car .... because that car left out of there in a hurry. I guess -- you know the shots being fired -- they [the people inside the white car] could hear the volleys going off, so they pulled off. ....  

Detective  Do you think he [Johnson] had any involvement in the incident at and/or in the police car itself? 

Balcony Brother  No. 

Detective  Do you think he [Johnson] had any involvement in anything that took place after that? 

Balcony Brother  No, he wasn't even around. ... When he was standing there [by the tree], he saw the struggle, and when that first shot got off, he was gone [away from the tree]. 

Detective  And he ran where? 

Balcony Brother  Straight toward West Florissant. 

Detective  So from this tree, this tree area right here, toward West Florissant. 

Balcony Brother  Yeah, running straight up the sidewalk going that way. 

Detective  And then this is where that white car was roughly? 

Balcony Brother  Yeah. Then he disappeared, and the car sped off. 

We don't know if he went around the building or either he jumped in that car. I can't say for sure because I didn't see him [jump into the car]. 

All I know is when that first shot rang out you could see him running [from the tree toward the police car]. He was like he got the hell out of Dodge. 

If he did jump into that car, he could have seen it [the final, fatal shooting of Brown] by looking out the back window. 

I would say -- with at least about a 99-95 percent certainty -- I didn't see nobody peeking around the building at the end of that apartment building [Building 5] that sits there ... on the north side of the street.  

He [Johnson] didn't run up on the porches [of Building 5]. He ran down the sidewalk. 

Detective  You're just speculating whether or not he got into that car. You're not sure. 

Balcony Brother I'm not sure. That's what we -- me myself and my family -- we was: "Did you see him? No, I didn't see him. Did you? No." 

But all of a sudden, all we know is he ran and the car left. The car was there, and he ran, and the car left. But we don't know if he got in there or not.

He might a have ran down further down [northwest on Canfield Drive] to look back [toward the incident scene], but we couldn't see nobody. I could look straight, I could see from there [my balcony] to ... where it [Canfield Drive] bends, headed out towards West Florissant. From my porch -- if I stand on the corner of my porch where I am at -- I got a clear view of everything.    

[Pages 25-29]

Dorian Johnson stopped between the tree and the sidewalk on the
north side of Canfield Drive. The tree was near Copper Creek Court.

Balcony Brother saw Johnson running from the tree
toward the white Monte Carlo
when the first gunshot was fired.

Because of his own movements, Balcony Brother missed seeing a couple of moments of the incident:

1) While he was moving from his bedroom to the sliding glass door, he did not see Johnson run away from the police vehicle.

2) While he was hiding inside the apartment after the first gunshot, he did not see Johnson get into the Monte Carlo.

In the interval between those two moments, however, Balcony Brother did see Johnson standing by a tree that stood immediately to the west from Copper Creek Court. Then during that same interval, Balcony Brother saw Johnson running west toward the Monte Carlo. 

Balcony Brother did not see Johnson get into the Monte Carlo, but Balcony Brother said that the others in his apartment agreed with his assumption that Johnson must have disappeared into the car. 

----------

On September 24, about six weeks after the incident, Balcony Brother was interviewed by an FBI special agent. Balcony Brother described Johnson running toward the police vehicle and Brown running away from the police vehicle. 

In relation to his own apartment's location, Balcony Brother referred to two driveways -- 1) "the first driveway", which was Copper Creek Drive, and 2) "the last driveway", which was the driveway blocked by the Monte Carlo. Balcony Brother saw Brown run toward the first driveway, and Johnson run toward the last driveway. 

FBI SA  During the tussle [between Brown and Wilson] that you describe where was the friend [Johnson]? 

Balcony Brother  Practically on the sidewalk. 

FBI SA  What was the friend doing? Do you remember? 

Balcony Brother  Just standing there watching what was going on between the officer and Michael. 

FBI SA  From your advantage point, when Michael Brown took off running, what did the friend do? 

Balcony Brother  He ran the opposite way. .... 

This is the last driveway  .... His friend [Johnson] went toward West Florissant [toward the last driveway].   

Michael ran toward the first driveway which is located were the memorial is on the post. 

[Pages 8-10]

In another passage of that same FBI interview, Balcony Brother described those opposite running directions as follows: 

FBI SA  Once the shot rang out and Michael Brown started running, how soon after did the police officer get out of the vehicle? 

Balcony Brother  A matter of seconds. 

FBI SA  Was it instantly or was there a slight pause? 

Balcony Brother  It was like a slight pause. Within two or three seconds he was coming out. 

As Michael was running away, the other gentleman [interrupts himself] Mike went one way, and the other gentleman went the opposite direction. 

FBI SA  The other gentleman meaning Michael Brown's friend? 

Balcony Brother  Michael Brown's friend.  ..... 

FBI SA  When you said Michael Brown took off running, there was a pause when the police officer chased. What was that friend doing? 

Balcony Brother  After he [Johnson] ran, he disappeared. We couldn't see him. We don't know where. We had thought he ran around to the side of the building [Building 5] .... 

[Pages 7 -9]

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Visiting Sister-in-Law was interviewed by investigators and she testified to the grand jury. The last moment when she remembered seeing Johnson was when Wilson drove the police vehicle backward and blocked him. (See pages 33 - 34 and 40.)  She saw Brown alone run away from the police vehicle. 

Johnson ran initially southwest

Two eyewitnesses testified that Dorian Johnson ran initially southwest from the police vehicle and then ran along the northwest side of Building 18.

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The first of the two eyewitnesses was MC Passenger. He told a detective and an FBI special agent on August 22, 2014, that Dorian Johnson ran toward Bulding 18's Apartment 9391. MC Passenger watched Johnson from inside the white Monte Carlo.

Building 18 faced the police vehicle from the southwest.
The building's "right side" was the northwest side.
Blue line = Monte Carlo
Black line = Police vehicle
Red line = Johnson's run from the police vehicle
Purple line = Minivan

In the interview's relevant passage, MC Passenger described Johnson's reaction right before Michael Brown and Darren Wilson began to struggle through the police vehicle's window. 

MC Passenger  His [Brown's] friend [Johnson] just looked. He looked frightened. He ran off, he stumbled, then ran off fast. He was on the other side of the street -- not on the side that I'm on [in the Monte Carlo]. ..... 

[Page 4] 

MC Passenger  He [Wilson] backs up. Mike is by the window, and his friend [Johnson] ... seen what he seen, and he looked startled. He ran off somewhere over here -- Dorian. 

Detective  Dorian goes where? 

MC Passenger  He ran to the outside of the street that I was on -- somewhere over there [pointing at a photograph]. 

Detective And [by the words] "over there" you're indicating ... across the street, in front of where it says this 9391 [north of Apartment 9391]? Is that fair? That 9391 right there? Is that where you're talking about -- this area? 

MC Passenger  Yeah, .... It look like a sidewalk area. He [Johnson] must have went somewhere as they [Brown and Wilson] still [were] tussling in the car. 

[Page 12] 

FBI Special Agent When did you see Dorian run away from the car?  Was it before the first shot? 

MC Passenger  Right before they [Brown and Wilson] basically got into it.  He trotted away from it real quick.  

FBI SA  When you saw the car shaking, Dorian was gone? 

MC Passenger  Yeah, he'd been gone. He ran to the other side of the street. I'm steady paying attention toward the [police] truck. 

[Pages  28 - 29]

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The second of the two eyewitnesses was a 26 year-old bi-racial woman (white father, black mother). She was sitting with her parents in a minivan and watched the incident from the moment when Brown began struggling with Wilson. The grand jury designated her as Witness 48, and the US Justice Department's report designated her as Witness 104. I will call her Minivan Daughter.

The US Justice Department's report evaluated her as credible. 

All three of Witness 104's statements were consistent with each other, consistent with the physical and forensic evidence, and consistent with other credible witness accounts. Witness 104 does not have a criminal history. Therefore, if called as a defense witness in a prosecution of Darren Wilson, this witness's account would not be vulnerable to meaningful cross-examination and would not be subject to impeachment due to bias or inconsistencies in prior statements. Accordingly, after a through review of all the evidence, federal prosecutors determined her account to be credible, and likewise determined that a jury appropriately would credit her potential testimony. 

[Page 30]

The minivan approached the scene from west to east and was blocked by Wilson's police vehicle. She was interviewed by a detective on August 14 -- five days after the incident. On that occasion she said that she saw Johnson run behind Building 18.

Minivan Daughter  I did see another dude take off running towards the opposite way, to the right side [i.e. northwest] of the building. .... He ran, like, this way [pointing on drawing]. 

Detective  So he ran south. Could you just put an arrow so that way we can indicate which direction that he was running? 

Minivan Daughter  Uh hmm. If this is the cop car he ran behind this building right here. 

Detective  Okay. He ran then south from Canfield.  .... Anything else, that we might need to know? 

Minivan Daughter  No, that's all. 

[Pages 8 - 9]

Minivan Daughter insisted that Johnson ran behind Building 18 immediately after Wilson shot the two bullets from inside the police vehicle. About 50 minutes after the first interview, the detective phoned her and asked her to clarify when Johnson ran that way after the gunshots, and she confirmed that sequence of events.

On November 3, she testified to the grand jury that she saw Johnson run south from Canfield Drive and then past "Building 18".  (A photograph, with the buildings numbered, was shown to the witnesses in the courtroom)

Prosecutor  Did you ever see anyone with Michael Brown?

Minivan Daughter  I seen a dude before all the shooting happened. There was a guy, a thinner dude, with Michael. He had on a black T-shirt and some gray jogging pants. I really didn’t get a good look at his face. … He had dreadlocks. …. 

Prosecutor  When you looked and saw Michael Brown at the police car, did you see him [Johnson] also? 

Minivan Daughter  I didn’t see him up on the cruiser but when the first two shots had been, he was like in this area behind the cruiser and he took off running alongside of Building 18. 

Prosecutor  That’s the way you saw him running. Did you ever see him reappear? 

Minivan Daughter  No. 

[Pages 58-59]

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As we will see in the next article, Johnson soon reappeared on the north side of Canfield Drive. His new location indicates that he must have doubled-back and then ran east along Canfield Drive. He was noticed running in that direction only by Near-Sighted, who said she saw him running in the same direction that Brown subsequently ran. 

All the other eyewitnesses were too focused on the police vehicle to notice Johnson running that way.

Brown's two bracelets fell off the police vehicle

Two bracelets, which belonged to Michael Brown, fell next to Darren Wilson's police vehicle. 

You can see this drawing in a larger size at
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Michael_Brown

The bracelet on the vehicle's north side is seen here:

And the bracelet on the vehicle's south side is seen here.

I explain the bracelets' locations as follows. 

When Brown placed his right handful of cigarillos onto the vehicle's roof, he placed the black bracelet there too. Then Dorian Johnson gathered the cigarillos from the roof, but he accidentally pushed the black bracelet across the roof and over the edge to the vehicle's far side. 

Brown continued to hold the remaining cigarillos and the yellow bracelet in his left hand. Brown handed those cigarillos to Johnson, but continued to hold the yellow bracelet. Soon, however, Brown placed the yellow bracelet onto the vehicle's hood so that his left hand would be completely free. 

After Brown's right hand was shot inside the vehicle's cabin, Brown shoved away powerfully, rocking the entire vehicle. The yellow bracelet slid off the hood and onto the ground near the front bumper. 

Near-Sighted saw and heard the yellow bracelet fall and thought that Brown had dropped a pistol onto the ground. In her testimony to the grand jury, she said:

Prosecutor The first shot, was the officer in the car when that shot occurred?

Near-Sighted  Yes, the officer was still in the car. Michael Brown was still in the window when I heard the first shot. After that, he kind of backed up and just looked down at himself. ....  

Then he kind of stepped back a little bit. I did see something fall on the ground. It sounded metal. So, of course, the first thing I assume was it was a gun. I was thinking he had a gun. 

Prosecutor  Did it appear that the officer or Michael Brown or anyone else retrieved that object? 

Near-Sighted  I didn't see anybody pick it up. 

[Pages 21-22]

Some of the metallic sound that Near-Sighted heard might have been the vehicle's window breaking when the pistol was fired. The investigators found pieces of window glass on the pavement near the vehicle's door. 

The driver and passenger of the Monte Carlo, which stopped only a few feet behind the police vehicle, said they saw the vehicle shaking while Wilson and Brown were fighting.