Officer fired 12 rounds at man who ran red light

HALLANDALE BEACH The driver who led Hallandale Beach police on a chase along Interstate 95 and into Hollywood on Sunday ran a blinking red light before 1 a.m., police said Monday.

With police in pursuit, the driver kept going for a couple miles until stopping at a busy Shell gas station near Hollywood City Hall. That’s when he and his passenger bailed out of the car and made a run for it.

Sgt. Edward Diaz chased after the two men through the gas station, firing 12 rounds as he ran. According to police, Diaz saw the driver holding an AR-style rifle and was “in fear for his safety as well as the safety of the public.”

The driver, Joseph Knowles, 22, of Dania Beach, was hit by two bullets but is expected to survive, police said.

Passenger Jamari Dajour, 21, of West Park, was later found sitting in a Miami Subs restaurant a block away.

At one point during the chase, Dajour leaned out of the passenger door holding a handgun, according to a police report released Monday. The report does not say whether he fired the gun.

Both men were to police.

Knowles had an AR-15 rifle and Dajour had a black Beretta handgun that was later found in the street 70 yards from where their car stopped, police say.

Several questions remained unanswered Monday, including how many officers joined in the pursuit and how fast they were traveling. armed, according

Diaz was placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard practice when an officer fires his weapon in the line of duty.

Police Chief Sonia Quinones did not respond to requests for an interview Monday but sent an email saying that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is investigating the shooting.

“Per our policy, all use of force incidents resulting in death or injury will be investigated by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement,” she wrote.

One of the bullets fired by the officer hit a car that had been dropped off at the gas station Friday for service.

Matt Haiman, of Hollywood, says he was supposed to pick it up Monday.

Now the passenger door needs to be replaced and who knows what else, said Haiman, owner of Premier Fire Alarm and Integration Systems in Hallandale Beach. The car is a spare he uses for work.

“I had no idea this even happened,” Haiman said. “I was in the comforts of my home watching Netflix. I don’t know what’s up with these cops, firing at these guys’ backs as they run away, like the O.K. Corral. I think that’s crazy. I think that’s insane.”

Officer Jennifer Higgins, who tried to pull the car over after it ran a red light, also chased the men on foot through the gas station with her gun drawn.

Diaz was hired in August 2000; Higgins was hired in March 2011.

Vice Mayor Sabrina Javellana

said she has asked to see body camera footage of the shooting but was told it won’t be available until an Internal Affairs investigation is done.

According to police, Higgins spotted a gray 2000 Honda run a blinking red light at the intersection of Foster Road and Northwest Eighth Avenue. She followed the car to an Orion gas station and turned on her police lights to make a traffic stop.

The driver left the gas station and turned left on Pembroke Road, ignoring a “right turn only” sign.

Higgins followed the car onto I-95 as it headed north to Hollywood Boulevard then east to a Shell station near City Hall. At one point,

the Honda headed east into westbound lanes, police say.

Knowles is facing the following charges: committing a felony with a weapon, eluding an officer, disobeying a red flashing signal, driving on the wrong side of the road and an improper left turn.

Dajour is facing the following charges: possession of a weapon by a convicted felon and resisting an officer without violence.

Dajour also has two outstanding warrants, one for fraudulently obtaining a controlled substance and the other for driving without a valid license.

Eugene O’Donnell, a professor of law and police studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York, was surprised to hear officers pursued the car only for running a red light.

“Most places it’s not encouraged

to pursue for a traffic infraction only,” he said. “But if two guys are armed and they are fleeing after leading police on a chase, there’s cause for grave concern.”

Despite the late hour, the gas station was still open when the shooting took place. One customer was leaving in a car as shots rang out.

“Letting a bullet go in a densely populated area is a monumental decision and departments need to double down on that,” O’Donnell said. “Policing 101 tells you a bullet has a mind of its own. Once it’s gone, it can travel quite a distance. You could fire at someone and it could hit a fixed object and ricochet and kill someone out of the intended path.”