Officer Shoots FoodMaxx Robbery Suspect From Inside Getaway Car: Bodycam Captures High-Speed Standoff

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY, CA — Police have released video from the February officer-involved shooting during an attempted armed robbery of a Food-Maxx, which escalated after a man rammed a patrol car and trapped an officer in his getaway vehicle.

The video includes body-worn camera footage, surveillance video, and other evidence collected during the inquiry into the Feb. 20 incident.

Officials said the officers involved were placed on administrative leave under department policy following the shooting.

According to the Antioch Police Department, officers were dispatched at 5:16 a.m. to the 4500 block of Lone Tree Way after receiving the report of an armed robbery in progress.

Police said three men backed up a sedan driven by Dominick Desouza into the glass facade of the FoodMaxx. The car then rammed into an Antioch police patrol car, ending with Antioch Police Department Officer Travis Donaldson inside the getaway vehicle.

Backup officers arrived to find that two suspects had fled on foot while the officer remained trapped in the sedan.

Donaldson struggled with the driver, who sped away, striking both a patrol car and a nearby store before fleeing with an officer trapped inside, police said.

The video shows Donaldson's view of Desouza.

Donaldson ordered him to stop the car as he tried to grab the steering wheel and the gearshift to put the car in neutral.

Desouza refused to stop, telling Donaldson alternatively to jump from the speeding sedan, threatening to crash the car, and saying, "I got family. I ain't going to jail."

When Desouza continued to ignore Donaldson's commands to stop the vehicle, the officer shot him in the leg.

The case is being investigated by the Antioch Police Department’s Investigations Bureau, in coordination with the Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office, under the county’s Law Enforcement-Involved Fatal Incident Protocol, which governs reviews of incidents involving law enforcement deaths.

Desouza faces charges including kidnapping, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer, burglary, and grand theft.

Antioch authorities released the age-restricted video in English and Spanish.

Click on the image to see the video on Youtube.