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VALLEJO — The city of Vallejo has released four videos showing a resident pulling a gun on an off-duty cop as the two argued over a parking space, then running away as the officer draws his own weapon and continuously fires, killing him.
The fatal Nov. 10 encounter has led to protests and threats of a lawsuit by the family of Eric “Cheddaman” Reason, 38, who was slain by off-duty Richmond police Sgt. Virgil Thomas, a 27-year veteran. The shooting occurred at the parking lot of JJ’s Fish and Chicken, near the intersection of Fairgrounds and Sereno drives.
The videos, which appear to be security footage from a convenience store in the area, show different angles of the shooting and contain no audio. They were released on the city of Vallejo’s Youtube page Tuesday evening.
Within hours of the videos’ release, the president of the Richmond police union and an attorney for the Reason family issued drastically different takes on the footage, the former calling it a vindication of Thomas’ actions, and the latter saying it shows a “cold-blooded murder.”
The videos show Thomas, driving a light-colored Mercedes, and Reason, driving a dark-colored van, both go for the same parking spot. As a pedestrian blocks Reason, Thomas pulls into the spot.
Reason parks his van behind Thomas, in the middle of the lot, then walks over to Thomas and confronts him. The two have what appears to be a heated discussion, which lasts several seconds. Reason next walks back toward his van, while Thomas walks in the direction of the convenience store, stops and observes Reason opening the hood of his van.
Reason appears to retrieve a pistol from the front of the van, then walks back toward Thomas, gun in hand. The two again exchange words, and Reason turns back toward his van. At that point, Thomas can be seen drawing a weapon from the belt of his pants.
Thomas then begins to shoot, while Reason — apparently realizing the danger — starts to run away. Thomas then moves toward the middle of the parking lot, aims in Reason’s direction and fires several times while Reason continues to run.
Reason is running across Sereno Drive — about 50 to 100 feet away from Thomas, with his back to the officer — when he is fatally struck and falls to the ground, where he was later pronounced dead. An attorney for the Reason family said Reason was shot in the back of the head.
On Wednesday morning, Thomas’ attorney, Justin Buffington, issued a written statement referring to Thomas as a “decorated veteran police sergeant” and Reason as an “irate convicted felon.”
“Reason boxed Sgt. Thomas and his wife’s car in, retrieved a semi-automatic handgun with a 30-round magazine from its hiding place under the hood and confronted Sgt. Thomas and his wife. Sgt. Thomas attempted to deescalate the situation but ultimately had no other choice but to draw his own firearm to defend he and his wife,” Buffington said. “Although Reason fled when he realized that he had attempted to attack someone capable of protecting himself, he refused to drop his gun and, in fact, continued to present a deadly threat.”
Buffington, who works for the Rains Lucia Stern law firm, suggested it was the first time in Thomas’ career he had fired his duty weapon. Thomas “had no other choice,” he added.
Thomas was interviewed the evening of the shooting and put on temporary administrative leave, which is standard in use-of-force confrontations. Vallejo police and the Solano County District Attorney’s office are still investigating the shooting. Vallejo police have issued a statement saying Thomas was legally defending himself.
State law gives certain leeway to people who shoot at an armed person who is running away, though it is still unclear how county prosecutors will interpret the facts of this case. Thomas was never arrested.
In a written statement Tuesday, Richmond police union president Ben Therriault said the video proves Thomas acted in self-defense.
“The video clearly reinforces that unfortunately, a firearm was introduced unnecessarily by Mr. Reason. Regrettably, this placed Sgt. Thomas in a position where he was forced to protect himself and the public,” Therriault said.
Melissa Nold, a civil rights attorney acquired by Reason’s family, has previously accused Thomas of “escalating” the situation and provoking the deadly result. She also has criticized county prosecutors for treating it like an officer-involved shooting even though Thomas was off-duty.
“This video shows a cold-blooded murder,” Nold said in a statement to this news organization. “I want to know why Eric Reason’s murderer isn’t in custody.”
Nold also took aim at Solano County District Attorney Krishna Abrams, referring to her as “Krishna ‘Blue Lives Matter’ Abrams” and questioning “why (Abrams) keeps allowing police officers to murder people in Vallejo with impunity.” The “blue lives matter” remark refers to an image featuring the slogan Abrams posted on her personal Facebook page, which Nold criticized Abrams for several months ago.
California law says a person is allowed to shoot at someone who is running away, if it can be shown the shooter reasonably believed the other person was retreating to gain a tactical advantage and attack. In Antioch, for instance, a homeowner was cleared of criminal wrongdoing in 2014 when he shot at two unarmed burglars fleeing his home, later telling police he feared they might be running for cover to attack him.
In 2015, also in Antioch, county prosecutors declined to charge a man who fatally shot a carjacker in the back after a drug deal-turned-robbery. Prosecutors said at the time they couldn’t prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the shooter had not acted in self-defense, even though he fired multiple times and the robber appeared to be leaving.
In the days following Reason’s fatal shooting, a still photograph circulated on the internet showing Reason lying face-down in the middle of Sereno Drive while a Vallejo police officer and Thomas stood over his body.
Thomas appeared to be holding a phone while standing over Reason’s body.
Vallejo police have not responded to questions from this news organization about the photo and why Thomas was allowed to stand so close to Reason’s body. In police use-of-force incidents, the involved officers are supposed to be sequestered and interviewed in private, although they can consult an attorney beforehand.
Police also declined in a November public records request to immediately give the names of the officers in charge of the crime scene, saying the shooting was still under investigation.
“The release of the information you seek will jeopardize the department’s ability to conduct a fair and impartial investigation,” Vallejo police Lt. Robert Knight wrote in his response to this newspaper’s request.
Reason was known as a local rapper who went by the stage name “Cheddaman,” and appeared on a song alongside popular California rapper Mac Mall on the compilation album 2009 “Country Club Crest: 3 C’s Down.” Relatives told KTVU and NBC that Reason was a father of six, who was working in construction.
Thomas was briefly suspended more than a decade ago, according to a high-ranking law enforcement official with knowledge of the suspension. It stemmed from a 2005 accusation that he used excessive force on a man named Ramon Castillo, who had fallen asleep on a sidewalk while walking home from a bar. Castillo sued in 2007, accusing Thomas of waking him up with “a strike to the left side of his neck,” before kicking Castillo several more times.
