A screenshot of the dash cam footage from Allen County Sheriff Deputy Izak Ackerman’s cruiser shows Ackerman, right, surveying the scene after an altercation that left Ackerman shot in the face and Quincy Pritchett deceased.
Image captured from ACSO dash-cam footage
LIMA — NAACP Lima chapter President Ron Fails on Thursday described dashboard camera footage of the fatal shooting of Quincy Pritchett, a 43-year-old Black man killed after fleeing a traffic stop on Second Street last month, as “insufficient and incomplete.”
“This is another reason why we need body cameras, and we need them now,” Fails said. “It’s incomplete. We cannot appropriately complete our investigation with what they’ve given us.”
Pritchett was killed June 21 outside a Second Street home after fleeing from an attempted traffic stop, initiated by Allen County Sheriff’s Deputy Izak Ackerman around 2:30 a.m.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office on Wednesday released the dashboard camera footage of the pursuit and shooting, but an apparent struggle between Pritchett and Ackerman occurs just outside of the camera’s view.
Pritchett was killed, while Ackerman was reportedly hit by a bullet.
The Allen County Sheriff’s Office does not equip its deputies with body worn cameras.
Sheriff Matthew Treglia has previously expressed concerns about the cost of operating equipment and “loopholes” in public record laws for body worn cameras, which he said in a 2020 letter to former Mayor David Berger “jeopardizes citizen’s most basic right to privacy.”
The sheriff’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday.
While an initial press release from the sheriff’s office on June 21 said a “preliminary investigation appears to show the suspect who was armed with a firearm, and the deputy exchanged gunfire,” the dashboard camera footage does not clarify whether Pritchett was armed, nor does it show who shot whom.
The sound of shots fired cannot be heard on the video either.
“This is going to do nothing but add to the distrust that already exists between the community and law enforcement,” Fails said. “And the only way you’re going to avoid that is to be truthful and present to the community what you have.”
The sheriff’s office turned its investigation over in June to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation, which will report its findings to the Allen County Prosecutor’s Office to determine whether to file charges.
