Michigan State Police said Friday that it has finished its investigation into the death of Samuel Sterling, who died April 17 after he was struck by an unmarked police SUV while running from officers, and will turn its findings over to the state Attorney General's office to determine whether criminal charges are warranted.
MSP said last month that state police and officers from other agencies were trying to take Sterling into custody in Kentwood on an outstanding warrant when he fled. "Several officers pursued him on foot and an MSP member was driving an unmarked vehicle. They ended up converging in the parking lot of Burger King on Eastern Avenue, where the vehicle driven by the MSP member struck Mr. Sterling," MSP said in a news release a week after the incident.
On Friday, state police also released a collection of videos from the scene. They are from MSP, the Grand Rapids Police Department, and the Wyoming Police Department, and they include three body-worn camera videos and one in-car camera video. Police said they redacted portions of the videos "to conceal the identity of undercover officers and unaffiliated individuals."
The release does not include video from the officer driving the vehicle that hit Sterling. That officer "was not wearing a body-worn camera due to his assignment on a federal task force, and the unmarked vehicle he was driving was not equipped with an in-car camera," MSP said.
The videos start with an officer from the Wyoming Police Department getting out of a cruiser and running. That officer instructs Sterling to put his hands up, but Sterling, at first barely visible in the shaky frames, continues running away.
Sterling runs into a Burger King parking lot. An unmarked SUV appears, plowing Sterling into the exterior wall of the restaurant.
Sterling cries out, and officers call for an ambulance seconds later.
Police said he was taken to a hospital, where he died hours later.
Before releasing the videos publicly, MSP Director James F. Grady II said he met privately with Sterling’s family to show them the footage. The family's attorney, Ven Johnson, said he was there too, and described watching it with them.
“It was horrible. And then to have to watch his mom and dad have to listen to him groaning in pain, begging them to help him, to get him medical attention. It was very difficult to watch," Johnson said.
After the video's release, Governor Gretchen Whitmer called Sterling's death "unacceptable."
"In light of video footage showing a departure from MSP protocols and the high standards of the department, my expectation is the State of Michigan will take steps to terminate the trooper’s employment if criminal charges are issued," Whitmer said in a statement.
MSP has not publicly named the officer who hit Sterling, saying officers' contracts prohibit the release of a member’s name or personnel file unless they are charged with a crime.
Officials said the officer was previously suspended without pay, and remains suspended pending the outcome of the attorney general's investigation.
