Tennessee cops called man 'a dumb a**' as they watched him drown in lake ignoring his repeated cries for help
DECHERD, TENNESSEE: A 24-year-old man died after he jumped in a lake as a pair of police officers looked on without coming to his help. The body camera footage of an officer showed Johnny Baldwin crying, “Help me” after going into Tims Lake near Decherd, Tennessee, in the early hours of June 4.
An officer with Winchester Police Department, whose identity has not been released, was reportedly heard saying in the clip, “Well, then swim – your dumb ass jumped in the river.”
The officer and his unidentified sergeant continued filming while Baldwin screamed for help. Soon after that, the officer who called the man “dumb ass” was seen hacking through foliage and telling Baldwin he was “going to come in and get your ass.” The footage also showed the officer’s colleague laughing while saying, “No you ain’t,” before screaming at Baldwin to “Get out of the water.”
According to reports, Baldwin was pursued by officers over a minor traffic infraction, and he jumped in the lake after driving his car down a dead-end lane. He died subsequently while struggling in the water leaving his family heartbroken.
A family spokeswoman identified as Gina Sims-Johnson said: “That was the most horrific video I’ve ever seen in my life… I was angry, I was tearful. I have watched the life drown out of someone’s eyes and I don’t understand how they could just stand there and do nothing. Because of human nature, if you have humanity, your first impulse is to help someone. Even your worst enemy. You don’t want to see anyone befalling, but they let this man die while they stood there on the bank.”
Now, the devastated family of Baldwin, who went by JJ, has called out for the officers to be fired, and also charged over his tragic death, as reported by The Metro. “Why didn’t they save him? He was an innocent 24-year-old man, drowned begging for help three times, and the police sat there and laughed and made jokes about it,” family friend Brian Kirk said.
Holly Duckett, who is an advocate for the Baldwin family, said: “How come he couldn’t reach out the baton he was using to cut down the trees extend it to JJ and save him? Why was nothing done?”
Winchester Police Department Chief Richard Lewis, whose department helped officers from Decherd, said, "He ends up drowning, which is an extremely sad situation. We have released our body camera and we have caught absolute hell for it."
Lewis also defended the officers’ actions and said they “made the right decision." "We are not trained in water rescue – we do not possess the gear to do that. You've got to have a flotation device tied off somewhere to the bank where they can rescue you if something happens,” Lewis said, adding it was mid-night and pitch-black on the shore of the lake. “That's the reason we didn't jump in. If my officer got in there and got tied up with him (and got pulled under) it's just as bad a situation,” the chief said.
You can watch the video here.