Bodycam footage shows Modesto police officer shoot driver who was charging toward him
More than a month since a Modesto Police Department officer shot a 19-year-old man, officials released edited bodycam footage of the moments before, during and after the shooting.Jadon Sieng of Modesto faces multiple charges, including the attempted murder of a police officer, two other counts of attempted homicide, felony domestic violence, shooting at an occupied dwelling, criminal threats and multiple weapons violations.Modesto Police Chief Brandon Gillespie said a dispatcher got a call around 1:06 a.m. on Aug. 8 from a woman in the 1200 block of Boulder Avenue just south of Broadway Avenue. The woman said a driver, later identified as Sieng, had just driven by her home in a black Acura and fired a gun.During the call, the woman stated that the driver had driven by a second time and fired a gun again, dispatch audio shows. Sieng was dating the caller's granddaughter at the time. Gillespie said officers were dispatched at 1:07 a.m., about a minute from when the call first took place.Video from Officer Jesus Padilla shows him spotting a black Acura around 1:09 a.m. while driving along Boulder Avenue, about a block away from where the call happened. He can be seen putting a spotlight on the car.Padilla's body-worn camera shows him getting out of the vehicle and pointing his gun at Sieng. He could be seen accelerating toward Padilla within the first minute of the encounter. The officer can be heard telling him to stop before he fired nine rounds at Sieng.Sieng is seen driving away and Padilla is seen grabbing his left leg after the shooting. Gillespie said Sieng's vehicle hit Padilla's leg as he drove away.Shortly after the shooting, Gillespie said a sergeant with the Stanislaus County Sheriff's Office spotted Sieng in his Acura along southbound Hatch Road and started chasing after him.Gillespie said Sieng ran a red light at Hatch and Morgan roads before losing control while trying to get on the southbound Highway 99 on-ramp. He crashed into a guardrail, ditched his vehicle and ran toward the freeway embankment.This prompted officers to establish a perimeter. Gillespie said the SWAT team, drones and other air support joined in the search to locate Sieng. At 1:35 a.m., a drone spotted Sieng hiding in the bushes along the freeway median.Bodycam from inside an armored vehicle shows officers close in on Sieng at 2:27 a.m. They can be heard commanding Sieng to get onto the other side of the median, but he does not comply.At 2:29 a.m., officers took him into custody. Video shows an apparent injury that Gillespie said was ultimately a gunshot wound he sustained when Padilla shot him.Sieng can be heard screaming as officers strip his clothes and search his body. Gillespie explained that Sieng was believed to have been armed and dangerous at the time.Gillespie said officers found a 9mm handgun on the driver's floorboard of the Acura, and they also retrieved a loaded magazine in the bushes where Sieng was hiding. Sieng was treated at a hospital before being booked into jail.Padilla was also treated and released after his leg injury, Gillespie said. He is a four-year veteran with the police department.You can watch the full video here. Be advised that the video may be graphic for some.Following the police shooting, Gillespie said the department is now conducting both a criminal investigation and an administrative review. The Stanislaus County District Attorney's Office is also conducting its own independent review of the shooting.See news happening? Send us your photos or videos if it’s safe to do so at kcra.com/upload.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
