Authorities in Maryland have released video footage from body cameras and police cruiser dashcams showing the moments leading up to a fatal pursuit on Interstate 270 in Rockville last month.
The videos — which total more than 19 minutes — were released by the Maryland Office of the Attorney General’s Independent Investigations Division on Tuesday.
Police say Lawrence White, 37, was behind the wheel of a black Infiniti that was stopped in the middle of the road on Rockledge Drive in North Bethesda about 5 a.m. on May 20, triggering a call to police about an unresponsive driver.
The videos show officers approaching the car — with its brake lights still illuminated — shining flashlights into the driver’s side window.
One officer says, “Gun, gun, gun,” telling the other officers she saw the butt of a gun in the driver’s lap.
From the video, it’s unclear whether the driver ever roused.
Several minutes later, more officers have surrounded the car, and a sergeant, who arrived on the scene, has positioned his car in front of the Infiniti.
That’s when officers began knocking on the windows of the car and yelling, “Hands up!” and “Police,” and “Put the gun down!” At one point, the car starts to lurch forward and another officer jumps in a cruiser and drives forward, attempting to block in the Infiniti from behind.
In the video, the sound of an engine revving and squealing tires are heard as an officer tries to throw “stop strips” under the car’s tires. The car is able to squeeze out from being wedged between the two police cars and speeds off.
Officers pursued White onto northbound 270, where he crashed about two minutes later on I-270 near Route 28, according to the videos.
White was ejected from the car in the crash. The attorney general’s office said pieces of a handgun and ammunition were recovered on the roadway near the crash scene.
Two other people in the car survived the crash and were taken to the hospital with injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening.
The crash brought Saturday morning traffic on the highway to a standstill as police investigated.
The Maryland Attorney General’s Office, which investigates deaths of people involving police, is still investigating the crash.
