‘I’ll smoke ya’: Officer cleared of shooting woman holding screwdriver

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A Utah police department has cleared one of its officers who opened fire on a suspect in June after threatening to shoot the woman who was pacing around holding a screwdriver and verbally taunting officers.

But a county prosecutor had a different interpretation — that the shooting was not legally justified and that the officer came ready to open fire.

Police body camera video, obtained by NBC News, depicts Enoch, Utah, police Corporal Jeremy Dunn responding to the scene of a burguray call, where a woman refused to drop a screwdriver as another male suspect stood near her side.

The suspect, identified as Ivonne Casimiro, is seen in the video repeatedly telling officers to “go ahead, blow,” as they aimed their guns at her.

“You come at me with that knife, I guarantee I’ll smoke ya,” Dunn told the woman.

After two failed taser attempts to subdue Casimiro, Dunn aims his gun at her. She raises the screwdriver in her right arm and starts to take a step with her left leg. That’s when Dunn squeezed off three rounds at Casimiro’s legs.

Investigators said Casimiro was treated by paramedics after being struck twice in the knee. She was later treated and charged with assault on an officer and having a stolen vehicle, NBC affiliate KSL reported.

“She is not pointing the screwdriver at the officers, nor does she appear to be threatening them, although she is defiant and combative,” Iron County Attorney Scott F. Garrett said in a letter to the Enoch Police Department.

Garrett, the county’s chief prosecutor, concluded that the officer’s June 28 use of force was illegal, but he also said criminal charges would not be filed.

“It cannot objectively be stated that the officers or anyone else were in danger of death or serious bodily injury at the exact moment that lethal force was used,” he wrote. ” … It was not objectively reasonable for Corporal Dunn to use deadly force … “

The prosecutor decided, however, that the state would be unable to prove “criminal intent” in the case.

Image: Utah Police shooting
Utah police shooting of suspect with screwdriver.Enoch Police Department

A report by the Enoch City Use of Force Review Board dated Wednesday came to a different conclusion — that the shooting was within department policy despite Dunn’s admissions that he was aiming for the woman’s extremities and that he approached the confrontation from the first moment having “mentally purchased” the idea that he’d have to open fire, according to documents in the case.

The city report states that “reasonable force was used” by Dunn, and it appears to support his decision to aim for Casimiro’s extremities.

“After resisting Sergeant Berg’s attempt to detain her, and being subjected to two ineffective TASER deployments, and after the female raised the screwdriver in her right hand across her body appearing to load for an attempt to strike, taking a step forward with her left leg while her arm was cocked, Corporal Dunn chose to incapacitate the female suspect using lethal force in a non-lethal manner,” the report states.

County attorney Garrett had a different interpretation: There was still time to de-escalate the situation because the woman and her companion were a safe enough distance away from the lawmen and had not charged at them.

Instead, Dunn was depicted as escalating the situation. He said later that he believed Casimiro had a “God complex” that made her feel invincible. He’s heard in the recording telling his follow officer, “I can take her out like last time.”

“He was referring to a prior officer-involved shooting in 2012 involving both Cpl. Dunn and Sgt. [Mike] Berg in a near identical situation,” according to the Enoch City Use of Force Review Board summary.

Dunn “is currently on administrative leave until a determination can be made in compliance with and by all relevant agencies,” according to a city statement.