“I’m going to drown,” he shouted – but the police didn’t believe him: To avoid being checked, a man in Arizona jumped into a lake and drowned. This has consequences for the police officers.
In the United States, a man drowned in front of idle police officers. As can be seen in a video released by the authorities of the city of Tempe, Arizona state on Monday, the man had climbed into a reservoir in late May when the officials wanted to question him. According to a transcript, the man called for help, but officers didn’t respond.
Police had been called to the site at night after a couple had been making “noise”. According to the announcement, they first questioned the man’s 34-year-old partner. Then they also wanted to question the 30-year-old. As can be seen on the video, however, he climbed over a railing into the lake. Officials told him he was not allowed to swim in the lake, but he swam under a bridge.
Policeman: “I will not jump after you”
Here the video ends; the authorities keep the other recordings under lock and key because they are too “sensitive”. Instead, they released a transcript. It reads how an official calls down to the man: “What do you want to do now?” He replies, “I’m going to drown. I’m going to drown.” The policeman replies: “But no”.
A second police officer tells the man in distress to swim to a bridge pillar and hold on to it. “I can’t, I can’t,” says the swimmer. “I’m not going to jump after you,” says the second officer. The police officers also do not respond to the man’s girlfriend, who begs them to help her partner.
