Video raises questions about Georgia police chase that left teen dead
Warning: Some viewers may find the images in the video above disturbing.
Newly-released video is raising questions about a high-speed police chase that ended with the death of a teenager.
Nicholas Dyksma led sheriff’s deputies in Harris County, Georgia, on a dangerous 10-mile chase in August 2015. When the deputies stopped his truck, they repeatedly tasered the 18-year-old and dragged him to the ground. Dyksma was later pronounced dead at the hospital.
Now his parents say they want the public to see the video of what happened, so that it never happens again, reports CBS news correspondent Mark Strassmann.
Harris County sheriff’s deputies approached the Dyksma’s truck.
“Show me your f***ing hands! Show me your f***ing hands right now!” one deputy could be heard saying in the video.
Police smashed his window and shot him with a taser. He was pulled from the truck and officers threw him to the ground and cuffed him. In the video you can see one officer put his knee on the back of Dyksma’s neck.
A few minutes later, officers noticed something was wrong.
“Is he alive?” a deputy asks.
Deputies originally responded to a call about a man sleeping in his truck. When they woke him, right away he took off. Once they caught and subdued him, and he stopped breathing, deputies didn’t start CPR until nearly 10 minutes later.
“It’s heartbreaking, you know, to imagine what happened,” Dyksma’s mother, Tammy, said.
She can’t bring herself to watch the footage.
“You feel as though your son was executed?” Strassmann asked.
“Yes,” Tammy responded.
“Because?” Strassmann said.
“Because I think that they were really rough with him. I think they were brutal to him,” Tammy said.
Dyksma’s autopsy report cited three causes of death, including the use of the stun gun and compression to the neck and torso. It also said the third cause was methamphetamine intoxication.
“He made a mistake by running, he made a mistake by taking meth. That may have influenced his judgment, but last time I checked, that’s not a capital offense,” family attorney Craig Jones said.
“I know he shouldn’t have run. I understand that. But it really wasn’t their place to end his life,” Tammy said.
The Dyksma family did file a civil rights lawsuit against the Harris County sheriff’s office. We reached out to the office for a response but it did not get back to us. We also contacted the Harris County district attorney’s office. Officials said the incident is under investigation so they cannot comment on it.