New video shows Milwaukee police officer clinging to side of tow truck before fatally shooting driver

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- We have new police body camera video showing a critical incident from March 12, when a Milwaukee Police Department officer clung to a speeding tow truck before shooting the driver in the head, killing him. 

The incident has been divisive from nearly the moment it happened; many people say 35-year-old Jonathan Otto should have obeyed the officer's commands and stopped driving while others believe the officer could have gotten off the truck and deescalated the situation. 

The video starts with the officer walking up to Otto's tow truck to contact him in connection with a parole violation. 

The Department of Corrections said Otto had missed two parole appointments. And days earlier DOC learned of assault and strangulation allegations against him.

Otto starts the truck and begins to drive away, the officer jumps on the running board and grabs onto Otto's sleeve. 

Otto's girlfriend is in the passenger seat throughout the incident. She can be heard screaming repeatedly for the officer to get off the truck. 

Otto's girlfriend told CBS 58 shortly after the shooting that Otto said nothing throughout. 

She said Otto slowed several times. She believes it was to give the officer a chance to get off the truck. 

The officer can be heard on the video ordering Otto to stop the truck at least 15 times. He told Otto to get out of the truck at least five times, and he warned Otto at least twice he would shoot him. 

Just hours after the shooting, we spoke with Otto's girlfriend, Emily, who was in the passenger seat at the time.

She told us then, "Johnathan didn't say a word. The officer, all he told him was, 'I'm going to f***ing kill you.' And took out his gun and shot him in the head."

The incident has been debated ever since.

Dr. De Lacy Davis is an expert on use of force and community police relations. He told us, "The officer has to make that decision in real time, but it's a real-life decision, because you're now putting yourself in harm's way."

Davis is a retired New Jersey police sergeant and a former police academy instructor with more than 20 years experience.

He said, "Certainly, the simplest thing to do, as I'm sure people have said, is that Mr. Otto could have complied."

But when Otto did not comply, the officer chose to jump on the truck.

Davis said the officer could have backed off. "We know who it is. You get a warrant for his arrest. Now when you go back, you go back with a tactical unit."

SOP 460 details MPD's use of force policy and includes several restrictions on discharging firearms.

Policy 460.40 A. 1. says:

A police member shall not discharge a firearm at the driver or occupant(s) of a moving vehicle, or the vehicle itself, unless deadly physical force is being used against the police member or another person by means other than a moving vehicle. This is not intended to restrict an officer’s right to discharge their firearm at the operator of a vehicle when it is reasonably perceived that the vehicle is being used as a weapon against the officer or others, and the moving vehicle poses an imminent and ongoing threat of substantial physical harm to the police member or another person from which there is no reasonable means to escape.

Davis said, "The passenger is a bystander. And so now they're in harm's way when you discharge that weapon inside of the cab of a truck."

Policy 460.40 A. 2. says:

Police members shall not intentionally place themselves to either the front or the rear of a moving vehicle’s path. If they find themselves in danger from a moving vehicle, they shall attempt to move out of the way.

Davis said, "There were times when the vehicle slowed down. Disengage!"

Policy 460.40 A. 4. says:

Police members shall not reach into or place any part of their bodies inside a driver occupied vehicle during a traffic stop or field interview.

"It's a split-second decision," Davis told us. "Which, from my lens and from a reformist perspective, my argument is they don't get on the vehicle at all. That's the decision that I would've wanted an officer under my command to make."

According to MPD, the officer involved has more than 21 years experience.

The West Allis Police Department is the lead investigating agency. Dr. Davis said they'll look at the officer's mindset at the time and see if there was a valid threat to the officer's life.

Davis said there are cases where officers can be cleared of committing a crime but also be held accountable departmentally for violating procedures.

The officer involved is a 46-year-old man with over 21 years of service. He was taken to an area hospital for treatment of non-fatal injuries and placed on administrative leave as is routine in police shootings.

Note CBS 58 has stopped the video before the officer shoots Otto.