Video of LA County deputy appearing to ignore shooting call sparks investigation
A Los Angeles County sheriff's deputy is under investigation after a video posted online showed him ignoring a shooting call while he recorded a message to his then-girlfriend, officials said Thursday.
The video posted on YouTube last month shows Deputy Jeremy Fennell in a patrol car talking into a camera as a dispatcher is heard relaying the shooting alert.
The deputy uses colorful language and then looks into the camera and says, "Someone got shot. Oh well."
"I know I gotta go, but I'm not gonna go because you're mad. I want to make things right with me and you."
As the 51-second video clip comes to a close, Fennell blows kisses and says he'll see the woman later that evening.
Fennell's ex-girlfriend, Priscilla Anderson, said she posted the video online because she wanted to bring attention to his behavior after being ignored when she contacted his supervisors.
She said the video was recorded in December.
"I was shocked and saying, 'Oh my god. There's no way you could do something like this,'" Anderson said Thursday as she recalled receiving the video.
She says she also sent the supervisors other videos of Fennell being rude to people on the street.
Anderson said Fennell sent her videos he recorded in his patrol car with fellow deputies to get her to call him back.
"They are treating the most serious police duties as though they are a joke," Anderson's attorney's Ben Meiselas, said. "People's lives have been placed in danger."
An investigation was launched immediately after the agency learned of the shooting alert video, sheriff's spokesman Lt. Darren Harris said.
"The Sheriff's Department and Sheriff Jim McDonnell are concerned by what's depicted in this video," Harris said. "We sign on to help people and to make a difference for them and any time an allegation of this nature is raised, it affects all of us."
A call to a number listed for Fennell in public records went unanswered. The union that represents deputies said it looks forward to a full and impartial investigation.
Anderson said Fennell grew angry one night in January when she tried to end their relationship, grabbed her by the neck and pulled out his gun.
"He pointed the gun toward me and he told me, 'Either I kill you or you kill me,'" Anderson said. "I was terrified."
Fennell was arrested two days later on suspicion of domestic violence and placed on desk duty. A sheriff's department investigation into that incident is also underway, Harris said.
Shiara Davila-Morales, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office said the case is under review.
The video was first reported earlier this week by the blog WitnessLA.com.
Follow Michael Balsamo on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MikeBalsamo1 .
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