Authorities have released body-cam footage of a police shooting that wounded a felon last month after he allegedly fired a pistol at a pursuing officer during a foot chase in Balboa Park.
The events that led to the non-fatal exchange of gunfire began shortly before 4 p.m. on Dec. 16, when two San Diego Police Department officers patrolling in a cruiser near Cabrillo Bridge tried to detain Allen Baker, 54, as he rode an e-bike in the 2900 block of Balboa Drive, just east of Sixth Avenue and south of Spruce Street.
When Baker failed to yield and rode off toward a wooded area, the lawmen pulled over, and one of them, Officer Kellan Taeatafa-De La Rosa, got out from behind the wheel of the police vehicle and sprinted after the suspect, his uniform-worn camera activated.
During the brief chase, Baker abandoned the bicycle and fled on foot.
Moments later, after running down a grassy hill surrounded by brushy foliage, he turned to face the approaching officer, held out a handgun front of him and fired a shot, according to police.
Taeatafa-De La Rosa, unharmed, responding by firing back, discharging five rounds at Baker, sending him crumpling to the ground. Paramedics took the suspect to a hospital for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening bullet wounds.
The volley of gunfire caused no other injuries, police said.
Stills and slow-motion segments of the video recorded by the officer’s body camera appear to show a cloud of gray gunpowder smoke appearing in front of Baker’s hands as he apparently points his gun at the officer.
Officers found the suspect’s pistol in a patch of shrubs near where he fell after being shot, according to police.
Baker has been booked on suspicion of assault on and attempted murder of a police officer, and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
