Video Released of Police Officer Running Over & Killing Man in Florida

Marlon Brown was attempting to run away from police officers in DeLand, Florida when he fell to the ground. One of the police cars ran him over, and he passed away from his injuries. Following the decision of a grand injury to not file charges against the police officer after testimony lasting two days, Brown's family has released a video from the police car's dash camera in an attempt to get public attention and justice for Marlon.

On May 8, DeLand Police began chasing Marlon Brown when he was seen driving without wearing a seat-belt. Brown got out of his car and started running away from police cars on foot after reaching a road with a dead-end. Two of the three police cars stopped; one police car, driven by officer James Harris, continued to follow Brown. Brown fell down and Harris' car ran over him. Brown died in the collision. Brown's family was paid a settlement of $550,000 by the city of DeLand. Additionally, an internal police review will involve analyzing 2,000 documents to decide if Harris was correctly following policies in place and using the appropriate techniques required in the situation.

Brown's family is still seeking justice after a grand jury did not decide to file criminal charges against Harris. In place of filing criminal charges, R.J. Larizza, Florida State Attorney of the 7th judicial district, decided to present the evidence of the case to a grand injury. In a news conference, Larizza expressed his desire to let the community decide what would happen to Harris. Larizza said, “This has been a controversial situation and this has been a case that has been a challenge since the beginning.”

Brown's family, on the other hand, feels that Marlon has been let down by the criminal justice system. Additionally, the city did not admit to any wrongdoing in the case. Marlon's ex-wife and mother of his children, Krystal Brown described the family's reasoning for releasing the video from Harris' police car: “We knew it wasn't going to be an easy video to watch, but in order to obtain justice, and that's what we're looking for, we knew it was something that we had to do.” Following the release of the video, Harris was fired from DeLand Police by Police Chief William Ridgway. Ridgway stated to CNN that Harris was acting against the proper practices, techniques, directives and procedures taught in training and expected by DeLand Police.

Brown's family hopes the video will prompt authorities to charge Harris with reckless driving and manslaughter. They would like the proper justice for their family member. In the video from Harris' dash camera, the police cars can be seen following Brown. They drive into a grass lot from a residential area. Following his fall, Brown turns to look at Harris' oncoming vehicle and is hit. Harris runs over Brown, a thud is audible and Harris stops the vehicle. A voice says, “I think he's under the [expletive] car.”