Sheriff suspects deputy did not know he hit protester

The Sacramento County sheriff ’s deputy whose patrol vehicle hit a woman at a protest over the police killing of Stephon Clark probably did not know that he had struck a pedestrian, Sheriff Scott Jones said Monday.

Footage from dash cameras played at a Monday news conference shows Wanda Cleveland, the woman who was struck Saturday night, walking between two sheriff ’s vehicles as they are stopped and surrounded by protesters. The deputies in the two vehicles had come upon the scene while heading to the station to drop off evidence in a separate case.

Deputies in the video can be heard telling people to back away, as protesters kick and hit the vehicle. As Cleveland walks to the right side of the vehicles, the two cars begin moving forward and the second one hits her before continuing to drive away.

The incident occurred at 8:43 p.m. Saturday near 65th Street and Florin Road in Sacramento, where that evening’s protest was centered. Cleveland was treated and released from a nearby hospital for multiple cuts and bruises.

The rear window of one of the sheriff ’s vehicles was smashed, Jones said, and the body of the other was dented from protesters striking it.

Jones said he had not personally talked to the deputy, and he was not sure if the deputy had finished giving his formal statement on the events to the agencies investigating the incident.

“I only feel comfortable giving some opinion because we’re not the investigating agency,” Jones said. “From my view of the information there is a high likelihood that he did not even know that he collided with that protester.”

Since the March 18 shooting of Clark, an unarmed black man, by two city police officers, Sacramento has seen two weeks of protests and vigils. The rally that led to Cleveland being struck began Saturday as a candlelight vigil for Clark in South Sacramento.

Clark was shot by officers who were responding to reports of a person smashing car windows in South Sacramento. Police said that Clark broke the sliding glass door of a home before running away and jumping a fence into his grandmother’s backyard, where he was shot.

Police said that Clark was holding an object in his hand, which they believed to be a gun, but only a cell phone was found at the scene. The shooting is under investigation.

The family requested an independent autopsy, which found that Clark had been shot eight times — including six to the back.