(WXYZ) — Eastpointe Police say a traffic stop led to tense life and death moments. They pulled over a man driving a four-wheeler down Gratiot Avenue on June 15 during the day.
It quickly escalated until police say the man pulled a gun on them.
Eastpointe Police provided footage. You can hear one investigator talking to the man while his partner is in the squad car.
“You are driving down the wrong side of the road,” he tells the man.
They say the man then reached for a gun in his shorts and you can see a struggle. You can see what appears to be a gun in the man’s waistband. Police say the man reaches for the gun and then points it at police. The video continues as the officer takes cover, takes out a gun, then chases him.
“They were very brave in using that restraint,” said Det. Lt. Robert Koenigsmann, of the Eastpointe Police Department.
Detective Lieutenant Robert Koenigsmann says the officers could have used justified deadly force but relied on training they undergo multiple times a year and chose not to to avoid creating any danger to people in the busy area.
“That is the risk an officer takes,” said Koenigsmann. “He has to put his life on the line for the safety of others.”
“Obviously if you are in danger you want to minimize it, so I probably wouldn’t have been as logical as they were,” said Shiney Knight, who lives nearby.
Knight says she is grateful no one was seriously hurt.
A nearby businessman says he arrived right after it happened says he could tell police had been through something stressful.
“The cop was terrified because the guy had pointed the gun at him,” said Frank Callahan.
Detroit Police responded to help and arrested Deaz Titus hiding in a nearby garage. Police say Titus was taken into custody without further incident. The handgun was recovered after Titus fled the scene of the initial traffic stop.
The 28-year-old is now facing numerous charges including assaulting police with a deadly weapon, breaking and entering and felony firearm charges.
He is in the Macomb County Jail for now being held on $1 million bond.
