Longer video has more details of the SC trooper’s and driver’s actions

Four bullets flew within five seconds in a notorious traffic stop last month that instantly changed two lives and reignited a racial debate about black men and white police officers.

A 51-minute version of a dash-cam video showing a state trooper shooting an unarmed motorist in Columbia released this week by the S.C. Department of Public Safety shows a more complete account of the Sept. 4 incident than the three-minute version the 5th Circuit Solicitor's office issued on Sept. 25.

The longer tape details the events better and shows what happened in the immediate aftermath between now-fired Lance Cpl. Sean Groubert and driver Levar Edward Jones.

Their encounter at a gas station on Broad River Road during afternoon rush hour has set off squabbles about the state law that mandates tracking traffic stops, stirred debate about the pressures of police work and activated plans for a community forum to help young black men learn better what to do when police stop them.

Besides being fired, Groubert, 31, is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, an offense punishable by as much as 20 years in prison.

The attorney for the ex-trooper, former prosecutor Barney Giese, declined again this week to discuss facts of the case or Groubert’s version of the incident.

That leaves Groubert’s account, as captured on the recording from his cruiser, as the most detailed public statement of what he has said happened.

Jones, 35, is recuperating from a gunshot wound to his left hip and is walking with a cane, his lawyer, Todd Rutherford said. Jones has not spoken publicly, though his family has issued a statement.

Rutherford said his client is lucky to be alive, because so many shots were fired.

The video shows that Groubert’s portrayal of Jones’ conduct is “a total fabrication,” Rutherford said. “He tried to make Mr. Jones out to be an evil, aggressive person rather than to say, ‘I’m sorry.’ ”

Groubert, in his official statement made later to the State Law Enforcement Division, described Jones’ actions during the confrontation as “aggressive,” according to the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s office, which filed the charge against the trooper. A prosecutor read an excerpt of the ex-trooper’s statement made to SLED at Groubert’s bond hearing.

The dash-cam recording, however, depicts Jones as complying with the trooper’s commands throughout the incident. Jones is heard apologizing to Groubert several times, even after he had been shot.

Rep. Joe Neal, D-Richland, said the video heightens his concerns about racial profiling because the recording shows that Groubert appeared to take notice of Jones as the trooper is about to drive from the gas station parking lot – not while Jones was driving.

“If ever there was a graphic representation of what can happen when racial profiling occurs, that was it,” said Neal, one of the authors of the often-ignored state law that requires police to report race in traffic stops when the motorist is not charged.

EXCERPTS: How the incident unfolded

The 511/2-minute video begins at 4:58 p.m. with a view of the side of the parking lot of the Circle K gas station at Broad River and Whiteford roads, a heavily traveled corridor near St. Andrews Road.

The first view of Jones is him standing by the door of his white and burgundy Dodge Durango SUV, with the driver’s door ajar, near the gas station office.

The first voice heard is Groubert speaking to Jones. “Can I see your license, please?” the trooper asks.

Jones appears to reach into the right pocket of his tan shorts – as if to reach for his wallet – and then turns immediately to reach inside of the SUV. He would say later he was reaching for his wallet.

Groubert bolts into the camera’s view with his .45-caliber Glock aimed at Jones. “Get outta the car! Get outta the car,” the trooper shouts.

Gunfire starts as Jones is beginning to turn from his vehicle toward Groubert.

The first two shots are in rapid succession as Jones has not fully turned toward the trooper.

A momentary pause is followed by two more shots as Jones is backing up with his arms over his head. “Get on the ground. Get on the ground,” Groubert shouts.

Jones cannot be seen on the rest of the video. But the audio portion captures the rest of their exchange.

“I just got my license. You said get my license,” Jones says. “I grabbed my license right here. There’s my license, right there.”

“Put your hands behind your back,” Groubert says four times to Jones.

Jones asks, “What did I do, sir?”

The sound of handcuffs clicking can be heard.

“Are you hit?” Groubert asks.

“I think so,” Jones responds. “I can’t feel my leg. I don’t know what happened. I just grabbed my license.”

Groubert calls the Highway Patrol’s dispatchers at 4:59 p.m. – 1 minute and 18 seconds into the recording. “I need a 10-52 (an ambulance).”

“I’m 10-67 (has someone in custody). I need EMS,” Groubert tells the dispatcher.

“Why did you, why did you shoot me?” Jones asks.

“Well, you dove headfirst back into your car,” Groubert says.

“I’m sorry,” Jones responds.

“Then you jumped back out,” the trooper says. “I’m telling you to get outta your car.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t hear two words,” Jones says.

“Ahh (apparently Jones is feeling the pain of the gunshot wound). My license was here. .. I didn’t do nothin.’ ”

“Hold on a sec. Richland,” Groubert says to the patrol’s Richland County dispatcher 22 seconds after the first request for medical assistance. “Shots fired on 10-38 (a traffic stop). I need a 10-52 (ambulance) out here.” He gives the dispatcher a description of his location.

“Why did you pull me over?” Jones asks. “Ahh.”

“Seat belt violation, sir,” Groubert says.

“Seat belt? I just pulled it off right there at the corner to pull in the gas station,” Jones says.

“Well, I got help coming to you, OK.” the trooper says. “I got help coming to you.”

“Hurry. Ahh. Ahh.”

“Sit still. Sit still, bro,” Groubert says. “Sit still for me, OK?”

“I didn’t do nothin.’ There’s my wallet’s right there,” Jones says.

Groubert re-enters the camera’s view as he bends over to pick up the wallet from the pavement. “Where’s your ID at in here?” he asks.

“Ahh. Ahh. Ahh,” Jones is heard.

Groubert again speaks to a Highway Patrol dispatcher at 34 seconds after 5 p.m. “Negative. I’m 10-67 (has someone in custody). I need EMS (an ambulance).” That was the trooper’s third request for an ambulance.

“I tried for a medical career, sir,” Jones tells Groubert. “That’s my picture ID, right there.”

Sirens are heard approaching in the background.

“Just hang tight,” Groubert says. “Just hang tight. Just hang tight.”

The dispatcher confirms at 5:02 p.m. that an ambulance is on its way.

“Y’all stay right there, please,” Groubert tells three bystanders who appear in the frame near the gas station shop’s entrance.

“He told me to get my license,” Jones tells the bystanders. “I reached for my license. He shot me. Ahh. Oh, my God.”

“Try to sit still for me, OK. I got an ambulance coming,” the trooper tells Jones.

“Why was I shot? All I did was reach for my license. I’m coming from work,” Jones says.

Sirens grow louder as emergency vehicles begin arriving.

“Someone call my mom, please,” Jones says.

“What’s your mom’s phone number?” Groubert asks.

“I don’t know. Can I get my phone out so you can get it? Look it up, under ‘mom.’”

“Are there any weapons inside that vehicle?’ the trooper asks.

“No. There’s not no weapons in the vehicle,” Jones says.

“I was already out my car, sir,” Jones continues. “Where else was I supposed to get my license from?”

More sirens wail as other Highway Patrol and Richland County Sheriff’s Department vehicles arrive.

Pieces of other conversations can be heard, including radio communications. But it’s unclear who is speaking. Jones can be heard in the background in pain.

About 7 minutes into the video, an officer strings crime scene tape between Jones’ SUV and the gas station shop door.

About 12 minutes into the video, Groubert is heard saying, “You can take those cuffs off him. Take them off.”

About a minute later, someone else says, “Uncuff him and put them on in front.”

Groubert then provides his account of the incident to someone he appears to know and refers to as “LT.”

“I pulled him over for a seat belt violation,” Groubert is heard telling that publicly unidentified person.

“Before I could even get out of my car, he jumped out. Stared at me.

“And as I jumped out and identified myself as I approached him, he jumped headfirst back into his car.

“I started retracting back towards the rear of his vehicle, telling him, ‘Get out the car. Let me see your hands.’

“He jumped out of the car. I saw something black in his hands,” Groubert says. “I ran to the other side of the car yelling at him and he kept coming towards me.

“Apparently it was his wallet he jumped in there after,” the trooper says.

About 17 minutes into the video, an ambulance is seen leaving the scene along Broad River Road.

“I never found an ID,” Groubert tells someone who asks about Jones’ identification. “I picked up the wallet and opened it. All I ever saw was a work ID.”

Maj. Paul Grant, who oversees SLED’s investigative division, introduces himself to Groubert. Grant tells the trooper that SLED is investigating the shooting.

Neither Grant nor Groubert is seen on camera during the ensuing conversation.

“Whether you want to give a statement tonight, we generally don’t take a statement from the officer,” Grant tells the trooper. “All we want to know is briefly what happened.

“We’ll let you to kind of settle down in the next day or two and then we’ll sit down with you and kind of take a statement from you as to what happened. … That’s going to be the process,” Grant explains.

“It’s all on video, I assume,” the SLED agent says to Groubert. “Have you looked at it?

“I haven’t,” Groubert says. “My camera’s still alive and still recording.”

“You all right?” someone asks Groubert.

“Yessir,” the trooper answers.

“Do you got any information on this guy?” Grant asks Groubert.

“I do not. I think he had a work ID,” the trooper says. “When he first got shot he dropped his wallet and when I opened it up, I didn’t go through it. But I think I saw a work ID.”

“What race is he?” Grant asks.

“Black male,” Groubert answers 32 minutes into the recording. The trooper’s voice is not heard again on the video.

Another trooper who was assigned to watch over Jones at the hospital arrives there at 5:45 p.m. He stays with him until about 8:30 p.m., according to the Highway Patrol.

The recording ends at 5:49 p.m.

This story was originally published October 3, 2014 at 8:57 PM with the headline "Longer video has more details of the SC trooper’s and driver’s actions."