DALLAS -- Edgar Rodriguez admits he and Jose Cruz were stealing third-row seats out of the back of an SUV on Sunday, but doesn’t understand why an off-duty police officer used deadly force over stolen property.
Rodriguez, 16, was released from Parkland Hospital on Wednesday night and agreed to speak with WFAA News 8 about what he says happened leading up to and after the shooting March 13 that killed his friend, Jose Cruz, and led to murder and assault charges against the officer involved.
Off-duty Farmers Branch Police Officer Ken Johnson says he spotted the two teens breaking into his personal vehicle at his apartment complex. According to Johnson's attorney, Chris Livingston, Johnson announced himself repeatedly as a police officer before giving chase to the suspects, who had left the scene in Cruz's red Dodge Charger.
“We took the third row seats, we put them in the car and we left,” Rodriguez said. “We didn’t see no one outside, so we thought we got away with it, y'know?”
Rodriguez says he and Cruz didn’t know anyone was on to them until they left the complex and were driving south on Marsh Lane.
“We saw an SUV in the rearview mirror. Jose told me, ‘Look, I think that’s the guy,'" Rodriguez said.
Surveillance video obtained by WFAA News 8 shows Johnson’s vehicle appearing to make contact with Cruz’s car.
“He hit us twice and we crashed out,” Rodriguez said.
The teen says the airbags went off and he knew they were both in trouble for wrecking the car and for stealing.
“What can we do now? We’ll have to wait on the police now,” Rodriguez says he was thinking. “Then Jose was like, ‘Edgar, Edgar,’ and I looked to his window, and I see the guy with a gun and he just starts shooting through the window.”
Rodriguez claims Johnson fired 17 rounds. He also says the off-duty officer returned to his SUV and brought out another gun after firing the rounds, but that he did not fire that weapon.
Multiple rounds struck Rodriguez through both hands, ear, and grazed his scalp on the back of his head. His middle finger on his right hand was shot off, a result of shielding his head from bullets, he says.
“There wasn’t a reason for him to shoot at us when we didn’t even have no weapons,” Rodriguez said.
Cruz died at the scene. His funeral was on Thursday.
Johnson, 35, was arrested Wednesday by the Addison Police Department on one count of murder for killing Cruz and one count of aggravated assault for shooting Rodriguez.
He was released from the Dallas County jail early Thursday after posting 10 percent of a $150,000 bond.
The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Unit investigates all police-related shootings. In a statement Thursday, the DA’s office says a grand jury will review the evidence and decide whether to indict Johnson.
“There’s no reason to shoot someone over some third-rows [seats], y'know?” Rodriguez said. “He could have just pointed the gun at us and waited for the cops to arrive.”
Burglary of a vehicle is a Class A misdemeanor in Texas, punishable by a minimum six months in jail.
