Tuesday, October 10, 2017

Things not to do! Run over police.

Driver shot dead by cops was celebrating birthday, likely drunk

The college student shot dead by cops after running over a police officer in Miami appeared to be driving drunk, witnesses and investigators said.
Temple University senior Cariann Hithon, 22, was behind the wheel of a black BMW Sunday evening when she struck three vehicles and then, as a crowd gathered around her, rammed into a Miami Beach officer, tossing him into the air, the Miami Herald reported.
“It played out like a movie set with people running, screaming, car crashes, gunshots, an injured officer lying on his back on the road — all within a minute,” said John Butchko, a retired Miami-Dade homicide detective whose car was hit by Hithon moments before the shooting.
Video footage posted to Instagram show a noisy crowd gathering around Hithon’s BMW as someone shouts, “She drunk as sh—“ and her taking off and running the officer over.
Another officer then fired at her, and she crashed into a parked white SUV.
“I was literally shocked she would drive into four or five officers,” said Miami Beach lawyer Sean Ellsworth, a passenger in one of the cars that was hit. “She just floored it.”
Hithon was in town celebrating her birthday and investigators believe she and a male friend who was in the car with her had been drinking heavily that day, and witnesses said she appeared to be intoxicated, the outlet reported.
“She looked like she was messed up,” said Miguel Garcia, a tourist from Chile who said he ran to the car after the crash.
Originally from Maryland, Hithon was studying political science at the Philadelphia school, with aspirations of one day becoming a lawyer, said her father, Cary Hinton, a retired US Navy captain.
She had been convicted on a citation of improper driving in the past and had prior arrests for marijuana possession, giving a fake ID to an officer and assault and battery, according to court records reviewed by the outlet.
The Miami Beach police union said in a statement that the incident is tragic, but “we cannot dismiss the fact that an officer was hit with deadly force by a vehicle that was driving recklessly and fleeing from the scene of an accident.”
The officer who was run over, David Cajuso, was released from the hospital Monday and is recovering at home, a department spokesperson said.
An outside agency is investigating whether the shooting was in line with department policy.
Hithon’s father said he had a lot of questions following the incident but wouldn’t speculate without more information.
“She liked to drive fast, but what young person doesn’t drive fast?” he said.

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