Wednesday, Orange County sheriff’s officials released video depicting the shooting death of Kurt Reinhold, a Black man they accused of jaywalking in San Clemente.
Reinhold, 42, was unarmed when two deputies from the department’s Homeless Outreach unit were canvassing the neighborhood on September 23, 2020. Their duties involve assisting those living on the streets and helping them access resources and services.
The video includes: dashcam, cellphone, and motel surveillance video that captures the struggle with Reinhold on the sidewalk that led to his death. No body camera video was released.
The confrontation begins with officers sitting in their cars. They observe Reinhold as he crosses the street. The officers immediately say that he’s jaywalking.
“Watch this, he’s going to jaywalk,” one of them can be heard saying on the dashcam footage.
The deputies then debate whether he’s jaywalking, with one telling the other, “Don’t make case law.”
The deputies then pull up to Reinhold, who’s standing on the sidewalk.
The incident escalates as the officers tell Reinhold they have to arrest him.
“Are you going to stop or are we going to have to make you stop?” one of the deputies asks Reinhold multiple times.
Reinhold is heard asking, “For what?” The deputy tells him for jaywalking.
“What are you talking about? I’m walking,” Reinhold replies, then shouts at the deputies to get off him, as one of the deputies tries to touch him in an effort from stopping him from walking away.
An argument ensues. Reinhold says he doesn’t understand why he’s being stopped and repeatedly shouts at the deputies to stop touching him.
One deputy tells him he’s resisting arrest for jaywalking. “That’s ridiculous,” Reinhold says.
A fight breaks out, and according to bystander video, one of the officers can be heard saying, “He’s got my gun,” and then two shots are heard.
The officers can be seen giving Reinhold CPR.
Sheriff’s investigators point to a moment in the motel surveillance that appears to show Reinhold’s hand near or on one of the deputies holster while he and the other deputy were struggling on the ground.
But deputies have said it’s unclear whether Reinhold was able to unholster the weapon.
The Reinhold family’s attorneys filed a wrongful death lawsuit on Dec. 17, 2020
“The OC Sheriffs Homeless Liaison Officers use pretext reasons to stop anyone for any reason they want, simply to harass the person,” attorney John C. Taylor wrote. “These officers created and escalated the confrontation with Kurt Reinhold causing his death.”
The shooting remains under investigation, with the DA’s office yet to determine whether it believes the shooting was justified.