Terrifying moment driver with six-year-old boy in the front seat speeds off with cop clinging to door as routine traffic stop takes a tragic turn
Shocking bodycam footage captured a police officer clinging to the car of a speeding suspect before shooting the driver dead.
Police in Buffalo, New York, released video footage of the deadly shooting on Wednesday, showing a chaotic traffic stop as suspect Daevon Roberts, 25, tried to flee.
Officer Ronald Ammerman initially stopped Roberts for speeding and using tinted windows. Police found a 6-year-old relative in Roberts’ passenger seat, not wearing his seat belt.
Roberts stepped on the gas pedal while Ammerman had his arm on the car and his leg inside the door. The officer’s body camera captured him pleading with Roberts to stop and telling him, “You’re going to kill me, bro.”
Bodycam footage captured the moment a police officer pulled over Daevon Roberts, 25, as he drove away from a traffic stop while the officer was still in his car, before he was shot dead
The footage showed police officer Ronald Ammerman clinging to the side of the speeding vehicle and warning Roberts: “You’re going to kill me, mate.”
Police launched an investigation after Ammerman shot Roberts six times during the fight. Buffalo Police Chief Joseph Gramaglia ruled it was a lawful killing.
“I believe the use of force was justified, as occurred the other night,” Gramaglia said at a news conference.
“When you consider that the officer was in grave danger, namely serious bodily harm or death, then the use of that level of force is justified by the law. I believe that there was a justified use of force in this case.”
In the footage, Ammerman can be heard asking Roberts for his ID, but the suspect only shows a photo of his Georgia driver’s license on his phone.
Ammerman checked the license plate and found it was not valid. Roberts then claimed that the car he was driving belonged to his sister.
He claimed he was pulled over “every day” for tinting the windows, but because Ammerman stayed by his side for a few more seconds, Roberts decided to try to flee.
The video shows Ammerman desperately clinging to the side of the car as Roberts accelerates to a speed of over 60 mph.
Daevon Roberts, 25, was killed in the incident and was charged with attempted assault and criminal possession of a weapon at the time of his death.
Ammerman initially pulled Roberts over for speeding and tinted windows, and police found a 6-year-old relative in his passenger seat without a seat belt.
Separate footage from Ammerman’s partner showed the vehicle driving away from the scene at high speed
Roberts was shot six times in the chaotic scenes and was pronounced dead in hospital
Roberts tried to kick the officer out of his car, but Ammerman shot the car several times, causing it to stop.
The six-year-old child in the car was unharmed in the incident. Ammerman ran to his side of the car while standing up.
It is unclear how the child is related to Roberts, who refers to him as both his cousin and nephew in the footage.
Roberts was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead, reports WIVB.
When police searched his car, they found a loaded gun with seven rounds of ammunition under the driver’s seat.
Both officers involved have been suspended, and Gramaglia praised his officers’ efforts following the chaotic incident, saying that this type of situation “does not happen in a training facility.”
“This is real life, there’s not a lot of control over how some of these situations play out. We can train for different situations, but when it happens in real life, when there are actual situations, they always happen differently than what they do in a training facility,” he said.
Roberts was later revealed to be the half-brother of Jaylen Griffin, a 12-year-old Buffalo boy who disappeared in August 2020 and whose body was found in a home in April 2024.
Roberts is the half-brother of Jaylen Griffin (pictured), a 12-year-old Buffalo boy who disappeared in August 2020 and whose body was later found in a home in April 2024.
At a memorial service for Griffin in April, Roberts was charged with weapons possession, reckless endangerment and criminal damage after allegedly firing shots during the ceremony.
In June, he was indicted on charges upgraded to first-degree attempted assault and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon.
Gramaglia said at his press conference that the family “has been through a lot in recent years.”
“It’s a very sad situation.”
Detectives from the Buffalo Homicide Unit and the Internal Affairs Division are also conducting separate investigations into the shooting.