Hartford State’s Attorney Gail Hardy released video recordings Friday that show the moment Anthony “Chulo” Jose Vega Cruz, 18, was fatally shot by Wethersfield police Officer Layau Eulizier Jr. during a traffic stop April 20 on the Silas Deane Highway.
The dashcam video shows Eulizier pursuing Cruz’s vehicle on foot with his gun drawn and firing at least two shots into the driver’s side windshield as the vehicle attempts to drive away.
Another video released by Hardy shows an officer hitting Cruz’s vehicle with his cruiser prior to the shooting. Cruz then appears to flee from the officers as Eulizier runs toward the vehicle.
Video footage from the dashcam shows Cruz’s car traveling across the Silas Deane highway after the shooting and coming to a stop on the curb outside Alpine Haus ski shop at 942 Silas Deane Highway. The video shows Cruz’s girlfriend getting out of the vehicle with her hands up and crawling on the pavement toward officers.
The video was released Friday morning following a series of protests since the fatal shooting in which Cruz’s family, friends and activists demanded the video footage and answers from Wethersfield police about why lethal force was used during a routine traffic stop.
They gathered again Friday evening, marching into the lobby of the police department to call for the immediate firing of Eulizier and an evaluation of whether the department’s policies and procedures contribute to racial profiling and use of force.
A Wethersfield police lieutenant stood stock-still in the corner of the lobby, saying he was there to represent the department as the protesters raged at him, chanting and yelling, but couldn’t comment on the case. The lieutenant offered his condolences but said he couldn’t comment on the case.
Attorney Benjamin Crump, who is representing Cruz’s family, released a statement Friday that called Eulizier’s action “murder.”
“The video footage released today by the State’s Attorney’s office shows what we already knew: This officer acted recklessly when he murdered Chulo, an unarmed teenager with his girlfriend, during a traffic stop,” Crump said. “We are devastated, enraged, and continue to demand justice for their son and brother. The video tells the story, and now, the officer must pay for his actions. We urge the State’s Attorney to bring swift justice for this hurting family and criminally charge the officer who killed Chulo.”
Cruz’s family could not be reached for comment Friday. No one answered the door at the family’s Wethersfield home Friday.
Crump represented both the families of Trayvon Martin, 17, who was fatally shot in Florida by a former neighborhood watch captain, and Michael Brown, 18, who was killed by a Ferguson, Mo. police officer in 2014.
“I’m glad for the transparency and I believe the videos speak for themselves,”Wethersfield Chief of Police James Cetran said Friday. He did not elaborate and Tom Hatfield, a lawyer for the police union, declined to comment on the video.
“Since the incident is currently being investigated by the state police, the union would have no comments regarding the incident or the investigation at this time,” Hatfield said.
The three videos show three different perspectives of the April 20 shooting. In one video, Officer Peter Salvatore’s dashboard camera captures the moment he pulled Cruz over near 1020 Silas Deane Highway. The video shows Cruz stopping his vehicle for 29 seconds and then fleeing when Salvatore approaches his vehicle.
The video then shows Salvatore pursuing Cruz’s vehicle, which after two-tenths of a mile, veers across the southbound lane of the highway and spins before stopping on the curb outside 949 Silas Deane Highway. Eulizier’s cruiser drives up to where Cruz’s car has stopped, hits the vehicle and as Salvatore’s vehicle approaches, Cruz reverses. The cruiser and Cruz’s vehicle briefly collide and Cruz continues to back up around Salvatore’s vehicle.
Video footage then shows Eulizier running out onto the road toward Cruz’s vehicle with his gun drawn and pointed directly at the driver’s side windshield. Cruz pulls forward and Eulizier fires at least two shots as the officer moves out of the way.
After the shooting, Cruz’s vehicle comes to a stop and Eulizier keeps his gun drawn, according to the videos. The passenger side door of Cruz’s vehicle opens before the vehicle travels across the highway, coming to a rest outside Alpine Haus ski shop.
The video then shows officers running across the highway with their guns drawn at the stopped car. The passenger exits the vehicle with her hands up and sits on the pavement as officers slowly approach the vehicle. In the video, the passenger can be seen yelling and pointing at the vehicle as officers come closer.
A video from Eulizier’s dashboard camera shows him trying to block the road after Salvatore’s initial traffic stop. When Cruz evades the stop, Eulizier follows him to 949 Silas Deane. The cruiser hits Cruz’s vehicle, causing the hood to pop up and Cruz’s vehicle to bounce back. Cruz then reverses and Eulizier jumps out of his cruiser with his gun drawn and yells, “Show me your hands,” as he runs toward Cruz’s vehicle. The video shows him firing at Cruz’s vehicle, but the video is partially blocked by Salvatore’s vehicle.
Hardy said the videos released to the public are “deemed the most pertinent to the use of force. These recordings have been edited out of respect for Mr. Vega Cruz and his family, but the material being released does capture portions of the incident pertinent to the investigation into the use of deadly force.”
Hardy said the investigation is ongoing.
“The investigation is in its early stages and I am unable to state at this time how long it will take to complete,” Hardy said. “Connecticut State Police continue to gather Wethersfield Police Department policies, evidence and to interview witnesses. I reiterate that this will be a thorough and comprehensive investigation to allow me to determine whether the use of force resulting in the death of Anthony Vega Cruz was justified under the applicable law.”
The shooting left Cruz with critical injuries. He died two days later at Hartford Hospital after being kept alive on life support, his family said.
Police said Salvatore attempted to pull Cruz over because his license plates didn’t match the car he was driving. Police said after initially stopping the car, it fled down the Silas Deane Highway. A second police car pulled out of a nearby parking lot to attempt to block the car just south of the Route 3 intersection.
The fleeing car attempted to stop but ended up partially on the curb near 949 Silas Deane Highway. Police said officers exited their vehicle and the fleeing car drove at them. Eulizier then opened fire at the vehicle, hitting Cruz, who was driving. His girlfriend, 18-year-old Stephanie Santiago, was a passenger in the vehicle, but was uninjured.
State police, who are investigating the shooting, said the car struck a Wethersfield police vehicle at one point before the shots were fired.
The car stopped after colliding with a sign outside the Alpine Haus ski shop at 942 Silas Deane Highway.
“Justice for Chulo,” activists said they felt the videos proved the shooting was unjustified.
Bishop John Selders said the video left him “devastated and appalled.” He said he thinks the video shows reckless conduct by the officers. “That what is essentially a traffic stop, a traffic violation turned into a fatal shooting is appalling,” he said.
On Friday evening, protesters vowed to march from the police department to the home of Wethersfield Mayor Amy Morrin Bello, who they said owed the public an explanation and immediate action.
The protesters blocked traffic as they walked down the middle of the Silas Deane Highway, daring police to arrest them. Rain fell on their signs and their memorial T-shirts. Two people carried a banner painted with the names of each person killed or injured this year by police in Connecticut.
Earlier Friday, Bello said she was grateful for how quickly the video evidence was released.
“We’re grateful that the Hartford State’s Attorney released this video evidence this quickly,” Bello said. “I think the three videos, some people may find them disturbing. They show the events as they unfolded, there was danger involved. It’s this kind of danger our officers are involved with every day. And unfortunately the investigation will most likely be lengthy so we all have to be patient so the whole process can continue and the state’s attorney’s office can finish their investigation.”
David McGuire, executive director of the ACLU of Connecticut, said he felt the shooting was unjustified based off of the dashcam footage.
“Anthony Vega should still be alive today. There is no reason why police needed to escalate a traffic stop over a license plate problem into executing an 18-year-old boy,” McGuire said. “The Wethersfield Police Department’s decision to chase and shoot Chulo Vega was unnecessary, deadly, and endangered everyone traveling on Silas Deane Highway that day. Police violence against people of color in Connecticut is a pandemic. It is long past time for every town and state elected official across Connecticut to take democratic control over police to stop police violence.”
Cruz’s death was the second officer-involved shooting in Connecticut within a week. On April 16, Stephanie Washington and Paul Witherspoon, both unarmed, were shot at by Hamden police Officer Devin Eaton and Yale Officer Terrance Pollock. Washington was struck by the gunfire and hospitalized for days with non-life threatening injuries.
That shooting is also being investigated by state police.
Staff Writers Dave Owens and Rebecca Lurye contributed to this report.
Kathleen McWilliams can be reached at kmcwilliams@courant.com.
