NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – A former Connecticut emergency dispatcher was fatally shot by San Francisco police after being chased for hitting pedestrians with his car and pointing a gun at officers, officials said.
According to the San Francisco Police Department, on Dec. 19, around 6:30 p.m., an SUV driven by a suspect, later identified as Peter Francis Hodge Jr., 50, sped onto a sidewalk near Kearny and Post streets, hitting two pedestrians. The SUV then struck a bicyclist near Sutter and Kearny streets before fleeing the scene.
Officers found a woman and a juvenile girl injured at the scene. They provided aid, and paramedics took both to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Video surveillance shows the bicyclist fleeing the scene, while Hodge is seen taking the bike and placing it in the back of his SUV before driving away.
At around 1:35 a.m. on Dec. 20, police found Hodge’s car, an SUV with front-end damage, near Grant Avenue and Post Street outside the Dior store and set up a perimeter to approach it.
When officers confronted Hodge outside the store, he asked what was going on but ignored commands to show his hands and turn around, according to court records. Officers initially deployed a BolaWrap, an entangling device, and later fired two beanbag rounds. However, according to video footage, Hodge continued to walk away as officers shouted, “He’s reaching! He’s reaching!”
According to police, Hodge raised a gun and aimed it at officers before they opened fire.
During the investigation, a firearm was recovered at the scene.
Hodge was a former East Hartford police dispatcher who left the department in 2000 after being found to have lied on his job application, according to the Hartford Courant.