An Arizona man drowned in a reservoir as three police officers watched, refusing to step in and save him.
The victim, identified as 34-year-old Sean Bickings, drowned in Tempe town lake while three unnamed Tempe police officers stood by and watched, one telling Bickings: “I’m not jumping in after you,” Fox 10 Phoenix reported.
Newly published video and a transcript of the incident released on Friday provide insight into the events leading up to Bickings’ drowning.
On May 28 at about 5am police responded to an alleged argument between Bickings and a woman.
The woman, who identifies herself as Bickings’ wife in the video, says that the two sometimes have disagreements, but that Bickings did not get physically violent.
Two officers then approach Bickings, who was sitting on a bench near a bridge, with a third officer standing nearby. Officers chat with Bickings for a few minutes, asking him where he lives, if he is a fan of the band AC/DC because of the T-shirt he is wearing and other questions.
At about 5:12am, Bickings climbed over a short metal fence between the boardwalk and the water. As Bickings walked toward the water, he asked if he was free to go, to which officers replied: “You can’t swim in the lake, man.”
Bickings entered the water and began to swim further into the lake. As Bickings swam away, one officer asked another: “How far do you think he’s going to be able to swim?”
Shortly after, Bickings began to tell the officers that he was drowning.
“I’m going to drown. I’m going to drown,” Bickings said.
“No, you’re not,” one of the officers replied.
When Bickings told officers for a second time that he was drowning and was not able to swim back to the bridge, a different officer replied: “OK, I’m not jumping in after you.”
As Bickings was drowning, Bickings’ partner became increasingly distressed, begging officers to save her husband. At one point, an officer tells Bickings’ partner to get off the bridge and threatens to put her in a police car.
“If you don’t calm down, I’m going to put you in my car,” the officer said.
Bickings’ partner continues pressing the officers to jump in and rescue Bickings, with officers replying that a boat is on the way.
“No, no, no,” Bickings’ partner said. “Fuckin’ swim.”
“You’re not helping,” said the officer who threatened to detain her.
The same officer repeatedly tells Bickings’ partner to “stop talking” and later shushes her as she watches Bickings drown.
“I’m just distraught because he’s drowning right in front of you and you won’t help,” Bickings’ partner said.
A different officer notes that Bickings had not come up from underneath the water for 30 seconds.
“He’s everything I got,” Bickings’ partner said. “I can’t lose him, he’s going to die.”
Bickings was later pulled from the water about 11:30am. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
The three officers have been placed on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave, which is “customary” in cases involving officer interactions involving deaths, a statement said.
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