VIDEO: Protesters Take To Streets After Deputy Shoots Teens In Car Accelerating At Him

Cocoa, FL – Hundreds of activists flooded the streets of Cocoa to demand justice after the deputy-involved shooting of two teenagers who were killed after they drove their car at a Brevard County sheriff’s deputy (video below).

The incident occurred at about 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 13 at the intersection of Stetson Drive and Ivy Drive after deputies tried to stop a car they believed to be stolen, WESH reported.

“What we know to date is that on Friday morning two of our Deputies were attempting to conduct a follow-up investigation on what they believed was a possible stolen car that had just recently fled from another Deputy in the Cocoa area,” Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey posted along with the video of the incident on the sheriff department’s official Facebook page.

Deputies in two separate vehicles followed the suspect vehicle and saw it turn into a driveway on Stetson.

Dashcam video from one of the vehicles showed Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Carson Hendren exited her vehicle and attempted to make contact with the driver of the car.

Almost immediately, the suspect vehicle began backing out of the driveway and turned so that it was headed in the direction of the deputies, the video showed.

Deputies ordered the suspects to “stop the vehicle” repeatedly, but the driver of the car continued moving it, attempting to negotiate a path to make a getaway, the video showed.

Deputy Hendren moved backwards and away from the suspect vehicle and Brevard County Sheriff’s Deputy Jafet Santiago-Miranda could be heard commanding the vehicle with blacked out windows to stop.

“As you can clearly hear and see on the video recording, Deputy Santiago–Miranda gives repeated verbal commands, 7 to be exact, for the driver of the vehicle to stop the car, however, the driver of the vehicle, 16 year old Angelo Crooms turns and accelerates the vehicle towards Deputy Santiago-Miranda who was then forced to fire his service weapon in an attempt to stop the deadly threat of the car from crashing into him,” Sheriff Ivey explained in his Facebook post.

“Please pay close attention to the video recording, as you can not only hear the repeated verbal commands from the Deputies for the driver of the vehicle to stop, but you can actually see the tires of the vehicle turn sharply as the car accelerates towards Deputy Santiago-Miranda who is now in immediate danger of being struck by the vehicle,” the sheriff added.

“10-33,” Deputy Santiago-Miranda said into his radio, telling the dispatcher that the deputies needed help at their location as the suspect vehicle’s driver pointed the car at him.

“Stop the vehicle, god—it,” the deputy yelled in the video. “Stop! Stop!”

But the car began driving directly toward him, the video showed.

So Deputy Santiago-Miranda opened fire, shooting first through the windshield and then through the driver’s side windows.

Sixteen-year-old Angelo Crooms and 18-year-old Sincere Pierce were both fatally shot, according to the sheriff’s Facebook post.

Deputies found two firearms inside the vehicle after the incident, WESH reported.

Additionally, Sheriff Ivey said that “an occupant from inside the vehicle has provided a thorough statement to FDLE that confirms the occupants of the vehicle heard the verbal commands of the Deputy and that Crooms still turned the vehicle and accelerated.”

Cocoa police asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to handle the investigation into the deputy-involved shooting because they didn’t have the resources to handle it at this time, according to the sheriff.

He said that when the investigation is completed, FDLE will turn it over to State’s Attorney’s Office for review.

Sheriff Ivey said that Deputies Santiago-Miranda and Hendren had been placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation, as is protocol for all deputy-involved shootings.

He said both deputies are assigned to the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office’s West Precinct.

Deputy Santiago Miranda joined the sheriff’s department in February of 2017 and Deputy Hendren joined the force in June of 2018, according to Sheriff Ivey.

Protesters took to the streets on Nov. 18 to express their anger about the shooting, WESH reported.

Videos of the protesters showed they surrounded at least one Brevard County sheriff’s deputy’s vehicle at an intersection and refused to let it proceed for a period of time.

The families of Crooms and Pierce have hired notorious anti-police attorney Ben Crump, who is also representing the families of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Breonna Taylor in Louisville, and Jacob Blake in Kenosha, Wisconsin, WESH reported.

Watch the incident unfold in the video below. WARNING – Graphic Content and Obscene Language: