Dash Cam Shows Traffic Stop Before Aurora Teen's Death

AURORA, IL — Nearly a year after an 18-year-old Aurora man died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, Aurora Police Chief Kristen Ziman released dash cam footage of a traffic stop that preceded Anthony Martell's death and defended the officer who exchanged fire with the teen. Martell was a passenger in a vehicle when it was stopped by Officer Jason Woolsey near North Avenue and Fourth Street. Ziman said Woolsey made the traffic stop on the basis of reasonable suspicion.

"Mr. Martell was riding in a vehicle that passed a residence that was recently struck by gunfire not once, but numerous times," Ziman said Monday in a Facebook post. "The vehicle circled the block where the home sits several times. When you place the totality of these circumstances together, a reasonable police officer would make a decision to stop the vehicle and investigate to thwart criminal activity."

Last October, Aurora police said when Woolsey approached the vehicle, he smelled cannabis coming from inside and asked Martell to step out. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

Dash cam video released on Monday, which had no audio, showed Woolsey approach the 2003 Chevrolet Impala and speak with the driver, then briefly return to his squad car before walking up to the Impala again. In the video, the passenger gets out and speaks with the officer as the two move toward the side of the road — and out of the dash cam's range. Then someone who appears to be the passenger runs across the street, followed by the officer.

Ziman said that as Martell fled, he fired at Woolsey, who returned fire but did not hit the teen. "Fearing for his life, Officer Woolsey was forced to return fire," Ziman said. "Fortunately, the bullets from both weapons did not hit either the officer, Mr. Martell or anyone else."

Ziman said Martell then ran into the yard of a nearby home "and attempted to overtake a family by committing a home invasion." He added, "I’m assuming he was looking for refuge, and was likely surprised when someone inside the residence physically forced him out of the house."

It was at that point that Martell turned the gun on himself, Ziman said: "Mr. Martell made the decision to put his gun to his head and pull the trigger as officers were converging on him."

Ziman defended the Aurora Police Department's initial decision not to release the dash cam footage when the Beacon-News submitted a FOIA request six months ago. Last month, the Illinois Attorney General's Office determined the city's decision to withhold the video and other documents was improper, the Beacon reported.

The police chief also defended Woolsey, who was cleared of any wrongdoing in an internal investigation. He did, however, receive a one-day suspension for failing to notify dispatch of the traffic stop and not turning on the microphone for his squad car's video system — a "procedural error."

"The bottom line is Officer Woolsey was right," Ziman said, noting that Woolsey is a veteran officer, a military veteran and a "well respected police officer in our Community Policing Bureau."

Ziman said Woolsey was right to fear for his life: "Mr. Martell had a loaded gun," she said. "We don’t have the foresight to know what he was going to do with it had Officer Woolsey not pulled him over. We do know, however, that he fired at a police officer in an attempt to kill the officer."

Watch: Dash cam video from Officer Jason Woolsey shows the traffic stop that led up to Anthony Martell's death:

Ziman said she ultimately decided to release the video — and share the reasons for initially refusing to release it — "because the relationship of trust and transparency our police department enjoys with the residents of this community."

According to Ziman, "We denied the release of much of the information because doing so would have possibly identified witnesses or other bystanders — something I find unacceptable as Chief of Police." The denial, she added, was also "because the driver of the vehicle, who was extremely cooperative during the investigation, was clearly identifiable.

"Until recently, the equipment to redact videos [hide the identity of innocent parties or other personal information, such as license plate numbers] was unavailable to us," Ziman said, adding that the Aurora PD's video equipment was recently upgraded. Ziman also said the upgrade had nothing to do with the FOIA requests by the Beacon-News reporter.

"The demand for trust between the community and the police is prolific," Ziman said, noting that the city spent hours working to fulfill FOIA requests in the case. "At some point, there has to be a trusting relationship between the media and the police."

Ziman offered condolences to Martell's family, who were openly critical of the police in the wake of his death.

"Any time someone loses their life, it leaves a void in the hearts of many people and our thoughts are with those who were affected by his death," Ziman said. "I am also distressed for the innocent and undeserving witnesses and several of our police officers who still have to endure the trauma of seeing a man taking his own life."

A GoFundMe page established by Martell's family criticized the actions of police on the night of his death. "We did not receive any information from the authorities," Martell's sister wrote. "We had to find out through our cousin & social media."

She said a police sergeant did not give "sufficient information" on the critically wounded Martell's condition. "They started off with showing my mother a traumatizing photo of my brother through a phone," the sister wrote. "How technology disgusts me right now. I feel truly disgusted. Rather than having us meet the authorities at the hospital they show her a photo?"

She said police also initially refused to allow her to see her brother, who was nicknamed "Scarface."

"Saying this is a police investigation, that we wont be allowed to see him as we might compromise evidence. Compromise what exactly?," she said. "Which leads me to wonder. What really happened? Did he shoot himself? Or did the authorities decide its the easy explanation?"

Martell was eventually taken off life support and pronounced dead at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.

Image via GoFundMe