WATCH: Dashcam video shows tense moments before fatal officer-involved shooting
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IDAHO FALLS — A visibly scared Jesse Jesus Quinton was running. Behind him was an Idaho State Police trooper shouting for him to stop.
What follows on dashcam video are the muffled sounds of a fight that ended with the 35-year-old’s death and the distraught calls of the trooper asking for help after a shot was fired.
The traffic stop
The video obtained by EastIdahoNews.com shows the events of an officer-involved shooting at 11:42 p.m. Nov. 2 near the intersection of Northgate Mile and Lomax Street.
The incident began with a traffic stop. ISP Trooper Andrew Francis was traveling on Northgate Mile when he saw Quinton speeding in a red 1998 Subaru Legacy.
In the video, Francis is heard saying Quinton’s car is going 32 mph in a 25 mph zone. Additionally, the license plate on the Subaru “did not return,” meaning the plates on the vehicle “did not show being registered to that vehicle.” A large vinyl sticker also covered a portion of the plate.
Shortly after the lights of Francis’ patrol car are turned on, Quinton pulls over, and the trooper walks to speak with him and inspect the car. He notes Quinton’s sister is a passenger in the vehicle. Quinton hands over his driver’s license and documents to Francis.
The investigative report details how Francis smelled the odor of marijuana from the vehicle, which led him to ask Quinton to step out of the car. During a conversation between the officer and suspect, Francis asks Quinton “to be honest” about the marijuana in the car. Francis says if it’s a misdemeanor amount, he will give them a citation and let him drive away.
Quinton repeatedly says there’s no pot in the vehicle, but he does admit to recently returning from being a wildland firefighter and smoking marijuana in Oregon. He also says his sister may have had a pipe in the car.
The video shows Quinton becoming highly emotional and asking for the officer to give him a break. Francis says he still plans to search the vehicle and will decide on a break afterward.
At that point, Quinton steps away from the officer. Francis gently places his hand on Quinton’s arm to guide him back toward the patrol car, and Quinton takes off at a run to escape Francis.
The pursuit
The subsequent events are not as clear, since the chase led Francis and Quinton about 160 yards away from the patrol vehicle. The audio recorded from a mic on Francis body is muffled, although some words can be heard.
The investigative report describes Francis using his Taser against Quinton several times; however, it was unsuccessful due to Quinton’s baggy clothes.
Eventually, Quinton stops running and the two men collide in an off-camera struggle. The report states Quinton mounted Francis, immobilizing all but his right arm. Quinton then allegedly places Francis in a chokehold in an attempt to strangle him.
Francis feels his life was in danger, according to the report, and tried to free himself from the chokehold multiple times.
With his right arm, Francis retrieves his sidearm and tells Quinton to “stop or I’ll shoot. Stop or I’ll shoot. I’ll shoot you.”
On the video, a distraught Quinton can faintly be heard repeatedly telling the officer to “shoot me.”
Francis told investigators he was unable to get Quinton to stop or loosen his grip, and he was beginning to lose consciousness.
He fires a single round, which strikes Quinton.
The gunshot isn’t clearly audible on the video, but the groaning from Quinton afterward is.
Francis immediately gets on his radio to report shots being fired. Other police cars rush to the scene.
Arriving officers began CPR in preparation for emergency medical personnel to arrive.
An unidentified voice, presumed to be another officer, is heard asking Francis, “Are you OK?”
The winded Francis says, “I was trying to keep him calm. The car smelled of marijuana. He ran, I tried Tasing him twice. None of them took, then I tackled him, and he got me in a chokehold.”
First responders rushed Quinton to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The investigation
A three-month-long investigation ensued, first by the Critical Incident Task Force with the Bonneville County Sheriff’s Office as the lead agency, followed by a subsequent analysis by Bonneville County Prosecutor Daniel Clark.
The findings of the investigation were released Friday.
“I have concluded after reading the reports, reviewing the evidence and conferring with detectives assigned to the case, that there no evidence to support a criminal charge against Francis for the events of Nov. 2, 2018,” Clark said in the report.
Clark writes that “EMT personnel and other law enforcement officers observed marks and bruising on Francis’s neck consistent with the chokehold described by Francis,” according to the report. Enhanced audio from the dashcam video, although muffled, also serves to corroborate much of Francis’ account.
But the motive for the incident remains unclear. No one knows why Quinton told Francis to shoot him, or why what appeared to be routine traffic stop escalated to pursuit and death.
A later search of the car did reveal several types of marijuana in the vehicle.
An autopsy conducted on Quinton’s body found both THC and toxic levels of dextromethorphan, a drug commonly used in cough syrup, in Quinton’s blood. Investigators asked Gary Dawson, who conducted an investigation of the autopsy, whether the combination of substances contributed to Quinton’s behavior on the night of Nov. 2.
“It was Dr. Dawson’s opinion that the drug combination did have an adverse effect on Quinton’s behavior,” the report reads. “Dr. Dawson concluded that the combination of marijuana and dextromethorphan was a proximate cause of Quinton’s aberrant and violent behavior.”
Clark said the information from the toxicology report, as well as the enhancement of the dashcam audio, did delay this case, though it was still done in a timely manner consistent with investigations of a similar nature.
“Any time you are dealing with an officer-involved shooting making sure that all the evidence is gathered and ascertained and analyzed, I think as with any other case it is with the utmost importance,” Clark said.
Ultimately, Clark says in his report the shooting could’ve been avoided through numerous options by Quinton, including not running from Francis and choosing to comply with commands given to him by Francis.
“I find the conduct by Trooper Francis on the day in question to be justified,” Clark said in the report.
Col. Kedrick Wills, Idaho State Police director issued the following statement:
“The Idaho State Police are grateful for the Critical Incident Task Force’s investigation into this matter, and we are gratified the prosecutor’s report makes it abundantly clear that the actions of Trooper Francis were justifiable under Idaho law. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Mr. Quinton.”
Friends of Quinton describe him as being a humble and quiet individual who would “give you the shirt off his back.”
Read more about Quinton in a previous article.
The full report by Bonneville County Prosecutor Daniel Clark can be read here.