Los Angeles police on Thursday released new details and body camera video showing officers’ attempts to stop a machete-wielding man walking through the streets of Hollywood in November after allegedly robbing an auto parts store, and ultimately being shot dead by police.
Police started receiving calls about the armed man, identified Thursday as Nathaniel Pinnock, 22, of Los Angeles, about 11:20 a.m. on Nov. 25, as he left the auto parts store on Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, and continued to walk to the nearby Chick-fil-A.
“The officers observed Pinnock and confronted him, ordering him to drop the machete,” LAPD Capt. Gisselle Espinoza, said in a video message. “He did not comply with the officers’ demands.”
On the graphic bodycam video, an officer who approached Pinnock on the street leading to the Chick-fil-A parking lot can be heard telling Pinnock, “Hey, drop it, bro. Drop it,” to which Pinnock replies, “Huh!” and the officer continues his demands, “Put it down. Put it down.”
At that point, Espinoza said Pinnock entered the passenger seat of a Chick-fil-A patron’s vehicle in the drive-thru with the machete still in his hand. The patron got out of the car.
An officer deployed a Taser, but it was not effective, Espinoza said. Pinnock drove away in the patron’s car and crashed into two police cruisers as he exited the parking lot.
Officers continued to use less lethal options, including a bean bag shotgun, to stop Pinnock, who was still armed with the machete, but he continued to run down Sunset Boulevard.
“The officers chased Pinnock down the street but after a short while, he changes course of direction and charged toward one of the officers while holding the machete in his right hand, resulting in an officer-involved shooting,” Espinoza said.
As Pinnock ran toward the officer, another officer can be heard yelling at him to stop.
“Don’t do it, don’t do it!” the officer screamed.
The video shows Pinnock chasing the officer from the sidewalk into the street, lunging at him with the machete in his hand and then falling to the ground after being wounded.
Paramedics transported Pinnock to a local hospital where he died.
The officer sustained minor injuries.
The machete was recovered at the scene.
The police shooting remains under investigation.
