Video: Deputy shoots into own patrol car after robbery suspect hops inside

Video released by the Sonoma County Sheriff’s Office this week shows a deputy shooting into the window of his own patrol car after a robbery suspect authorities say was armed with a knife hopped inside and closed the door.

The nearly 11-minute video, which also features 911 calls and statements from sheriff’s officials, shows Deputy David Edney exiting his marked vehicle — leaving the door ajar — in a residential neighborhood on Aug. 1 to approach a man. The cruiser was running with the keys in the ignition.

Authorities say that shortly before he was stopped by Edney, the man — identified as Brad Baymon, 42, of Minnesota — stole a pair of shoes and tried to stab a security guard in a Macy’s at the Santa Rosa Plaza mall.

×

In body cam footage, which starts about four minutes into the video, Baymon ignores Edney’s commands to stop and continues walking down the street. Edney fires his Taser, but the device doesn’t have any effect, so Edney then runs in front of Baymon, facing him.

Baymon immediately turns around, walks to the deputy’s vehicle and jumps inside. The two briefly struggle over the door before Edney backs up and opens fire, shooting six rounds into the SUV’s driver’s window, the video shows.

“I left it exposed like an idiot, and he jumped right in,” Edney told a Santa Rosa police officer who responded to the scene after the shooting. He told the officer that he saw Baymon reach for a knife while he was trying to get him out of the car.

“I was like he’s not taking my ... car,” Edney said, using an expletive. “I got my gun in there, my rifle.”

Baymon was taken to a hospital for treatment and survived. He was charged with robbery, carjacking, assault with a deadly weapon and carrying a concealed weapon, according to sheriff’s officials.

The Santa Rosa Police Department and the Sonoma County district attorney’s office are investigating the robbery and shooting. Sonoma officials say Edney, who has been a deputy for nearly five years, was placed on administrative leave after the shooting.