BART releases bodycam footage of police shooting at Union City station
BART police released body camera footage Friday from two officers who were involved in a November traffic stop at the Union City station parking lot during which one of them shot and injured the woman they pulled over.
The nearly 49-minute video shows camera footage from both officers who pulled over 32-year-old Jasmine Gao at about 9:30 p.m. on Nov. 18, when Officer Nicholas Poblete shot her in the torso as she appeared to try to drive away.
During the initial interaction, Poblete told Gao that her car matched the description of a vehicle reportedly doing doughnuts in the parking lot. Gao seemed perplexed by the statement and asked if someone was eating doughnuts and then said she wasn't a good enough driver to pull off the illegal maneuver.
The other officer who responded to the call along with Poblete—but whose name wasn't released—checked Gao's front left tire with his hand before saying, "Yeah, it's not hot."
At that point, the officers appeared ready to send Gao on her way before Poblete remembered that someone from dispatch told him that her registration was allegedly expired.
Then, for a few minutes, the officers tried to get Gao to show them her license, registration and proof of insurance while she appeared to grow increasingly agitated.
At one point, Gao asked the officers not to scare her, and as Poblete told her to get out of the car, he said she's "freaking out."
"It's because you're cops, you're cops and I'm just in a parking lot," Gao said.
She then snatched her license out of Poblete's hand and both officers reached into the car to try to get her out while she repeatedly yelled, "No."
She soon appeared to roll up her window with at least one officer's arm still inside and drive off.
Poblete immediately fired three shots and Gao's car drifted to a stop a short distance away. The officers then got her out of the car and handcuffed her as she started bleeding profusely from at least one gunshot wound to the upper torso.
Paramedics soon arrived to administer aid and transported her to a hospital, where she was treated and released, according to BART officials.
Neither officer was hurt.
The case has been referred to the Alameda County District Attorney's Office and Poblete, who has been with BART police for more than six years, is on administrative leave.
"Due to the seriousness of this incident, we have retained an experienced third-party investigator to conduct the internal administrative investigation to ensure an unbiased and objective review," BART Police Chief Kevin Franklin said in a news release Friday.
Spokespeople for both BART police and the District Attorney's Office didn't respond to questions about whether Gao has been charged with a crime.
She isn't currently in custody in Alameda County, according to jail records.
