Redding police release first body-camera footage, from an officer-involved shooting
Redding police on Friday released body camera footage of an officer-involved shooting on Cypress Avenue on April 10, marking the first time a police shooting in Redding has been captured on an officer-worn camera.
Cody Levi Bailey, 36, of Redding, was shot after getting into a confrontation that began when officers told him to leave an area where he was allegedly trespassing on private property, police said.
Bailey was shot several times in the torso but survived. He has been charged with resisting arrest, resisting an executive officer, assault with a deadly weapon and exhibiting a deadly weapon.
Police are required under state law to release to the public officer-worn body camera footage from officer-involved shootings. The version published on YouTube on Friday was edited and included a map of the area of the shooting and narration from Redding police Lt. Timothy Renault.
The video begins with two officers walking up on two men in a vacant lot behind the Jiffy Lube business on Cypress Avenue at Lowden Lane.
One of the men depicted in the video was sitting in a chair, while another man was lying on the ground with his shirt off. The man in the chair was identified as Jerry Hamilton and the other on the ground was Bailey, according to a Shasta County Sheriff's Office report filed in court along with the charges against Bailey.
The two officers were Eddie Gilmette and Jason Rhoads, according to the sheriff's report.
The officers tell the two men they are trespassing and they have to leave the property, according to the police video. Hamilton asks Bailey to get up and leave, while one of the officers asks Bailey if he is under the influence of drugs.
The sheriff's report also said Bailey showed signs of being under the influence of drugs.
Bailey eventually got up off the ground and gathered some of his belongings and cursed at the officers. Hamilton walked up a hill toward Cypress Avenue and Bailey followed him a short time later, according to the video.
The report says Bailey said to the officers "f--- God I want to stab you real bad! Just throwing that out there, put it on the record!" The report also quoted him as saying, "I'm gonna stab that n-----'s throat!"
The video shows a close-up of what appears to be a folding knife clip in Bailey's front pocket as he prepares to leave the vacant lot.
As Bailey walked up the hill he fell down and at one point he allegedly threw a baseball-sized rock at the officers, according to the report and video.
One of the officers said "That's it," and they started up the hill toward Bailey, who walked away. The officers called for backup and followed Bailey as he headed east on Cypress, according to accounts of the events.
Renault said that the two officers continued to follow Bailey east on Cypress at "safe" distance. The sheriff's report said Bailey yelled at the officers and at one point "took an aggressive stance" while holding a knife.
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Officer Bryan Cowan was at a gas station on the north side of Cypress Avenue, filling up his vehicle, when he heard the radio traffic about the officers pursuing Bailey, Renault said. That prompted Cowan to drive across the street to intercept Bailey, according to accounts of the shooting.
Part of the video released Friday includes footage from a surveillance camera at the Enterprise Rent-a-Car business on Cypress Avenue. That video shows what appears to be a man running east on the south side of Cypress and a police vehicle pulling up in front of him.
An officer got out of the vehicle and pointed a gun at the man, the video shows. The sheriff's report said witnesses at the car rental said they heard officer Cowan yell something similar to "drop the knife" several times.
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The man kept moving toward Cowan, who then fired several shots at him, according to accounts of the incident.
The video then shows Bailey lying on the ground and yelling while officers repeatedly told him to drop a knife that in the video appeared to be in his hand. An officer grabbed Bailey's arm and he released the knife, according to the video.
"Bailey can be clearly seen on the body worn camera footage holding a pocketknife with a red handle in his right hand. The blade was exposed as if the blade was locked open," the sheriff's report says.
Officers then provided medical assistance to Bailey, who appeared to have several gunshot wounds to his torso. An ambulance arrived and Bailey was taken to a local hospital and treated for his wounds.
He was released from the hospital on April 16 and booked into the Shasta County Jail, where he was being held without bail.
Reporter Damon Arthur welcomes story tips at 530-338-8834, by email at damon.arthur@redding.com and on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @damonarthur_RS. Help local journalism thrive by subscribing today!
This article originally appeared on Redding Record Searchlight: Redding police release body-cam footage of officer-involved shooting
