The death of Khalil Azad: Robbinsdale police release body cam footage of traffic stop preceding his death
ROBBINSDALE, Minn. – After an outcry from family and community members, police in a Minneapolis suburb have released body camera footage from three officers involved in the 2022 traffic stop of 24-year-old Khalil Azad, whose body was found in an adjacent lake two days later.
The Robbinsdale Police Department announced last week it would release footage from the encounter, which happened in the early morning hours of July 3, 2022.
RELATED: Students help lead call for answers in the death of Khalil Azad
Police say Azad, a Black man, was behind the wheel of a white SUV when he sped away, drove the wrong way in traffic, hit a ditch, and then crashed on the 3900 block of Lakeland Avenue North off of Highway 81, which is right next to the shoreline of Crystal Lake.
They say Azad then fled into the wooded area along the shoreline and wasn't found. On the afternoon of July 5, Azad's body was discovered floating in the lake by a passerby.
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner's Office ruled in September of 2022 that Azad's official cause of death was from "freshwater drowning."
On Feb. 25, 2023, Black Lives Matter Minnesota released a statement refuting the conclusions made by police and the medical examiner, claiming that autopsy photos show Azad had apparent dog bites on his face, which wasn't mentioned in the final report. Azad's family also said that he was able to swim.
Police Chief Patrick Foley announced on March 3 that the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension had been asked to conduct an independent review, which it has since agreed to do. RPD also promised to release body camera footage in the coming days "in an effort of transparency," and has insisted its officers did nothing wrong.
Body and squad car camera footage from three officers – identified by the surnames of Heasley, Heifort and Phenow – was released on March 7.
Footage shows officers walking through the woods with K-9s, but they don't appear to ever find anyone.
Police Timeline
Robbinsdale police released this timeline of the traffic stop:
07/03/2022 at 0127 hours traffic stop initiated – vehicle fled
Suspect vehicle hit curb and tree
Driver fled on foot
Officers spoke with the male and female passengers from the vehicle
Minnesota State Patrol Helicopter was requested and used a thermal imaging system to search the area. No suspect was located.
At approximately 0148 hours K9 track started by the Plymouth Police Department. No suspect was located
At approximately 0220 hours K9 track and Minnesota State Patrol Helicopter terminated search.
The Footage
Footage from the body cameras worn by Heasley and Heifort are both roughly about one hour in duration. Footage from Phenow is about 10 minutes. The descriptions below are abridged.
Click here to watch the footage. [WARNING: Videos contain strong language]
Heifort's Footage
Officer Heifort is pursuing the white SUV at about 1:27 a.m.
"We've got a vehicle that's fleeing from me and looks like it's gonna crash here…driver's bailing," Heifort said.
Heifort pulls over, opens his driver's side door and aims his service weapon towards the white SUV.
"Put your hands up! Hands up! Hands up!" he said.
Another squad car pulls up behind the SUV.
"F—----, just keep your hands up!" Heifort said.
From his point of view, passengers in the front and rear passenger's side of the SUV roll down their windows and put their hands out.
"Driver bailed towards the lake, headed eastbound," Heifort said.
He then commands the passengers to exit the vehicle with their hands up.
"Young lady, open the door, come on out. Walk towards me," Heifort said.
The woman exits the front passenger's side door.
"Keep your hands up," Heifort said.
The woman slowly approaches Heifort. He tells her he's going to handcuff her and put her in his squad.
"Who's the individual that's driving?" Heifort said.
"That was a guy that I met like literally tonight," the woman said.
Heifort asks her if she knows the other passenger.
"I've only known him just for a little while," she said.
She gets into the back of the squad car. Heifort asks another officer if he wants a K-9. An officer from the squad car parked behind the white SUV is seen commanding another passenger to "back up to the sound of my voice."
Over his worn radio, Heifort asks, "Is he a Black male, or? All I seen is a Black male wearing dark clothing."
The woman tells Heifort that the white SUV is hers.
"Do you know his name?" Heifort says to the woman.
"I only know him by 'K,'" she said.
Heifort then closes his squad car door and walks over to the officer near the white SUV.
"Backseat passenger did have a firearm on him?" Heifort asks over his worn radio.
Heifort walks towards a wooded area off of the highway.
"I don't know what's back here besides the lake. State Patrol coming up?" Heifort says.
Heifort walks around the other squad, then approaches the white SUV.
"Does he know who the driver was?" Heifort asks the other officer.
Over his worn radio, Heifort and the other officers discuss the specifics of the search perimeter. Heifort asks the woman for details about what the driver was wearing.
Heifort and the other officers talk about the passengers, saying they've been cooperative, but they express doubts about the male passenger's honesty. He told an officer he didn't know the driver, but the woman told Heifort that she met the driver through the other passenger.
The officers tell dispatch that K-9s should be used in the search. Heifort eventually talks to the male passenger and asks if the driver is known to carry a firearm. The male passenger says "never." A K-9 and an officer are seen beginning the search.
Later, a Hennepin County Sheriff's deputy and his K-9 arrive at the scene.
Heifort later talks more with the female passenger, asking about the route the driver was taking before fleeing officers. She says she didn't know what he was doing, and she was just going to "smoke whatever blunt he had on him," and then tell him to drop the male passenger off. She also said she was staying with a friend at a hotel in St. Louis Park.
She said she hadn't been drinking, and she hadn't seen the driver drink. She said she had been a bartender for a long time and can tell when someone's drunk, and she didn't see those signs in him.
Heifort later tells the woman, "This should scare the s— out of you, allowing someone else to drive your car, getting into a car with someone you barely know, because you don't know maybe what their history is. Why would he be fleeing if he didn't have something on him he's not supposed to. We did find drugs in the car…driving on the wrong side of the road creates another hazard. So I would take this experience and run with it."
The woman then says she is going to contact her friend who initially gave her the driver's contact information.
As Heifort walks down Hwy. 81, he disables his body camera.
Heasley's Footage
Heasley and another officer search the shoreline for about 16 minutes with the K-9. They yell out a warning at several points to advise that a K-9 is nearby. The K-9 is strongly pulling the officer, and eventually finds a hat. The K-9 then appears to lose the scent. They encounter an unhoused man.
About 44 minutes into the search, Heasley suggests that the driver is "long gone at this point," due to "a lot of different directions he could've went."
Heasley then begins another search, this time with the sheriff's deputy and his K-9.
"Police K-9! If you're in here give yourself up! You're gonna get bit!" Heasley yells.
After another nine minutes of searching, Heasley, the deputy and the K-9 return to the other officers. Heasley tells them "I think we're calling it…we definitely are not getting anything other than bitten [by mosquitoes]." Soon after, Heasley turns off his body camera.
Phenow's Footage
Officer Phenow arrives at the scene seconds after Heifort. Phenow walks over to the officer who is searching the male passenger, who they verify has a permit to carry. Phenow takes the firearm and clears it of ammo.
The officer tells Phenow that cocaine and marijuana were found inside the white SUV. A cellphone and a license plate are also found inside.
Phenow returns to his squad car and looks through what appears to be a handful of evidence envelopes. He gets into the driver's seat, and eventually turns off his body camera.
The Family And Community Response
Soon after the footage was released on March 7, Azad's family, along with three community activist groups, released a response letter. Azad's family says they were shown the footage on March 6 by three members of the Joint Community Police Partnership.
The family says the footage shows several other officers at the scene, which differs from what was noted in the police report. They also say they were shown all the footage simultaneously in a grid form, which made it difficult to watch.
The family also claims that at one point in the footage, they could hear officers use Azad's first name, followed by the sound of dogs barking, and then officers yelling, "Get on the ground…put your hands up…identify yourself, or else we will release the dogs."
"We want full transparency about the agencies who were called to secure the perimeter. We have yet to see body camera footage from New Hope, and Crystal officers who also secured the perimeter of Crystal Lake," the statement read. "In light of the footage we received from Robbinsdale Police Department, we are also demanding footage from additional agencies involved: New Hope, Crystal, Plymouth, and Hennepin County Sheriff's Department & State Trooper Patrol (helicopter). Including the dispatch audio from all agencies involved."
Below is the full statement from the family and community groups:
We, the family of Khalil Ahmad Azad, Minnesota Teen Activists, Family Supporting Families Against Police Violence, MN Wrongfully Convicted Judicial Reform, and supporting community members are coming forward in response to the footage released by Robbinsdale Police Department, March 7th, 2023.
We'd like to begin by expressing our concern about potential violation of our Minnesota Data Practices rights. The mother of Khalil Ahmad Azad requested the body camera footage in September of 2022. It wasn't until March 6th, 2023 that the family was able to view the body camera footage and dash camera footage at Robbinsdale Police City Hall. Unfortunately, we were unable to have many of our questions answered because the only individuals present during the time of watching the body camera and dash camera footage were three members of the Joint Community Police Partnership, a Hennepin County agency geared towards supporting affected community members.
While watching the body camera footage and dash camera footage, we believe there may have been additional Robbinsdale police officers on the scene than what was written in the Robbinsdale Police Report. Furthermore, the claim from Robbinsdale police is that Khalil Ahmad Azad was pursued due to driving while intoxicated. Khalil Ahmad Azad was in fact suffering from driving while black. We believe there was no probable cause for Robbinsdale police to initially pursue Khalil, he had not broken any laws while driving. Unfortunately, the dash camera footage presented to us on March 6th, 2023 did not show us the moments before the high-speed pursuit began.
While watching the body camera footage a number of discrepancies also stood out to us. We were presented with a total of four body camera and dash camera footage laid out on a grid. It was nearly impossible to focus on one camera at a time. The footage was inaudible because they were all playing simultaneously. We also noticed parts of the audio cut out for significant amounts of time. In addition, we noticed skips, pauses, and freezes of the body camera footage, with multiple moments of blurriness. Which leads us to believe that the original footage was tampered. We are concerned because there were absolutely no time stamps on the footage we watched.
We want to know what exactly happened to Kahlil Ahmad Azad on the night of July 3rd, 2022. According to the Robbinsdale police report, the officers involved were unable to identify who the suspect was nor find the suspect during the search. The passengers who were in the vehicle did not give Robbinsdale Police Department officers Khalil Ahmad Azad's full name. However, not only did we hear reference of Khalil's name on body camera footage, we also heard dogs barking while officers shouted "get on the ground…put your hands up…identify yourself, or else we will release the dogs." We are concerned by the verbal exchanges we heard from officers on the scene, and we want answers to what officers were referring to in their conversations.
We want full transparency about the agencies who were called to secure the perimeter. We have yet to see body camera footage from New Hope, and Crystal officers who also secured the perimeter of Crystal Lake. In light of the footage we received from Robbinsdale Police Department, we are also demanding footage from additional agencies involved: New Hope, Crystal, Plymouth, and Hennepin County Sheriff's Department & State Trooper Patrol (helicopter). Including the dispatch audio from all agencies involved.