#2023-09-15

Los Angeles, California — On September 15, 2023, at around 12:09 p.m., Newton Division uniformed officers responded to a radio call of a “Hot Prowl Burglary,” located at 1100 block of East 33rd Street. Shortly thereafter, details of the call were updated, indicating that four male suspects entered an apartment, bound and gagged the victim and stole the keys to his vehicle. As responding officers arrived, two of the four suspects, later identified as Justice Lockhart and Aaron Felnoy were taken into custody without incident. The third suspect, later identified as Jeffrey Askew, was observed by the Air Unit, on the roof of the apartment building. Askew jumped off the building and landed on the roof of an adjacent single-story structure. Askew then fell from the roof of that structure and landed on a cement walkway between the two buildings. As officers approached Askew to take him into custody and render aid, he reached into his front waistband and removed what officers believed to be a firearm.

Askew then appeared to point the object in the officers’ direction, resulting in an Officer-Involved Shooting (OIS) and simultaneous deployment of a 40mm Less-Lethal Launcher. Askew was struck by gunfire and was taken into custody without further incident. Due to the unknown whereabouts of the fourth suspect later identified as Daiyann Henderson, officers carried Askew out of the immediate area, rendered medical aid, and ultimately brought him to Los Angeles City Fire Department paramedics, who were staged nearby. Askew was then transported by rescue ambulance to Los Angeles General Medical Center, where he was listed in critical but stable condition. Several minutes later, Henderson attempted to escape the perimeter by changing clothes and exiting the front of the apartment complex. He was subsequently observed by officers and was taken into custody without incident. The object that was observed in Askew’s hand at the time of the OIS, later determined to be a hammer with an overall length of 6 ½ inches, was recovered and booked as evidence. No officers or other community members were injured during the incident.

Providence, Rhode Island — On Friday, September 15, 2023, 40-year-old Michael Pinto led officers on a chase with his teenage daughter in the vehicle. He was found by Sgt. Henry Yakey, and Patrolmen Bret Simas and Lucas Pontbriant, stuck in traffic near the Anchor Subaru dealership on Route 146 south, and the Burrillville officers attempted to box him in with their vehicles. Yakey steps out of his patrol car with his gun drawn and walks toward Pinto’s vehicle, shouting orders for Pinto to “{Expletive] stop!” It then appears that Pinto’s vehicle accelerates toward Yakey. As the vehicle is accelerating, one shot is fired. Pinto’s vehicle then hits Yakey’s cruiser and stops moving forward. Another shot is fired, and the driver’s side window on Pinto’s car shatters. After the shots are fired, screams are clearly heard from inside the vehicle.

Pinto’s vehicle then accelerates again and speeds away down the road, with Yakey and other officers on scene calling “shots fired” into their radios. Yakey then gets back into his cruiser, but says into his radio that they are not in pursuit of Pinto. Providence police later picked up the chase on Route 10 and onto Dean Street. Eventually two sergeants spotted Pinto near Woman and Infants Hospital, where he allegedly drove onto the sidewalk and hit a nurse. Pinto at this point placed his vehicle into reverse with Sgt. Rampone and the pedestrian nurse still on the sidewalk behind him. It is at this time both Sgt. Rampone and Sgt. Lopes discharged their duty weapons. Pinto was transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where he died. His teenage daughter who was in the car at the time was shot in the leg. Officers said they didn't know anyone else was in the car until after the pursuit ended. Yakey and the nurse who was hit at the scene were also taken to the hospital.