Police bodycam footage of Noel Rodriguez’s fatal shooting has been released following an investigation.
The prosecutor investigating the death of a Caldwell man shot by a Boise police officer back in June says Officer Rob Rainford’s actions were justified. Fifty-year-old Noel Rodriguez was shot in the early morning hours of June 14th on Brynwood Drive — just a few blocks away from Capital High School. Twin Falls County Prosecutor Grant Loebs reviewed the Critical Incident Task Force investigation and his findings were released Friday afternoon. According to the incident summary, Boise police had responded to a citizen report about a suspected drunk driver. They contacted Rodriguez, who police say attacked officers with his pickup and had armed himself with a screwdriver and a wrench. Loebs has concluded that Rodriguez made himself a clear and immediate danger to law enforcement officers and the general public. Two police officers were wearing body cameras that night and recorded video of the incident.
—
The Boise Police Department released a portion of that video this afternoon. This is the first time they’ve had an officer-involved shooting that was recorded by a body camera. Chief Deputy Eugene Smith says they released portions of that body camera video to us in an effort they say to be transparent and show how fast things can happen. The video picks up after Boise police blocked in Rodriguez as he had already fled from a previous stop. There’s video of both a Garden City and Boise police officer of the incident that morning. You can see in the video Rodriguez rev his engine in an attempt to flee the scene for a second time. Police say they’ve gave Rodriguez multiple voice commands to stop, but he did not. Police say Rodriguez was attempting to use his car as a deadly weapon.
“The purpose of going through the cameras is for the police department to be as transparent to the community or to the city as possible,” said Smith. “So by having cameras we are convinced that incidents like this demonstrate we can be transparent, but can we be transparent and still protect individuals who involved that deserve privacy and respect.” Boise police are only releasing a portion of the video to a media today for what they say maintains the privacy of the individuals involved. Smith says after about eight months of having the body camera video, they’ve been able to outfit about half of their patrol units and fell that the cameras have been a success so far.
