The 70-year-old man who died in Dallas police custody after a traffic accident last week went from debating the facts of the crash with an officer to pleading for medical attention in less than 30 minutes, according to body-worn camera footage released by the department Monday.
Police said that just before 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, an officer, Fernando Gonzalez, witnessed Roy Whittaker hit a vehicle in the 9500 block of C.F. Hawn Freeway, near St. Augustine Drive.
The 24-minute video starts as Whittaker attempts to turn left on St. Augustine Drive, nearing the front of a vehicle that was waiting at a stop light, before backing up and turning again — after the light had turned red. The video does not clearly show if Whittaker’s car made contact with the other vehicle.
According to police, the vehicle that was reportedly struck in the accident left the scene and its driver did not return to make a report.
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Gonzalez, who saw the incident as he was pulling out of a gas station parking lot, then follows Whittaker for roughly a minute before Whittaker stops.
“Hey man, do you know why I’m pulling you over?” Gonzalez asks.
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Whittaker says no. “You have no clue?”
“Well, I almost ran into him, but I didn’t hit that car or nothing,” Whittaker responds, later adding he had just left bingo.
Whittaker gives Gonzalez his license, but after a few minutes of being unable to find proof of car insurance, Gonzalez asks him to step out of the car and sit on the sidewalk.
“What did I do, sir?” Whittaker asks.
Exasperated, Gonzalez replies “You hit that car!”
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Whittaker remains adamant he didn’t: “We didn’t hit each other, sir.”
“I was behind you, do you want me to show you the damage on your car?” Gonzalez asks. Whittaker agrees as three more officers, Darrien Robertson, Lihn Cam and Bryan Crenshaw, arrive at the scene.
The men walk to the front of Whittaker’s car and Gonzalez points out what appears to be damage near the driver’s-side tire. Due to the angle of Gonzalez’s camera, the extent of the damage is unclear, but there appear to be light markings that don’t match Whittaker’s dark car.
Gonzalez asks if the car had always looked like that, to which Whittaker says no.
Whittaker is then handcuffed and taken into custody for misdemeanor warrants out of Dallas, police said. As police pat him down and search his pockets, socks and shoes, Whittaker begins coughing and asking for something to drink.
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An officer asks Whittaker what medical conditions he has, but Dallas police removed Whittaker’s response in the footage, in addition to any mention of the conditions from officers. Department spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said the personal information was muted to protect Whittaker’s privacy.
“Please help me,” Whittaker says while sitting on the sidewalk, and an officer calls for Dallas Fire-Rescue.
“Please, please, somebody,” he cries. An officer responds: “Try to relax, the ambulance is coming.”
Whittaker then lies down. The on-scene supervisor instructs the officers to remove Whittaker’s handcuffs while keeping him on his right side in “recovery position.”
An officer asks Whittaker to tell them his “medical problems” again. To Whittaker’s muted response, an officer replies “Well, that is unfortunate.”
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“Talk to me, how are you feeling?” an officer asks minutes later.
“Better,” Whittaker says.
Officers ask Whittaker questions to keep him alert until Dallas Fire-Rescue personnel arrive at 1:55 a.m. The footage ends as Whittaker is loaded onto a stretcher and then into an ambulance.
Police said CPR was performed on Whittaker in the ambulance before he arrived at a hospital at 2:27 a.m. Whittaker died at 2:42 a.m.
The police department’s special investigations unit is investigating the death. Police said Monday that autopsy and toxicology results are pending. The Dallas County district attorney’s office and the city’s Office of Community Police Oversight have also been notified, police said.
The New York Giants’ dreadful 2024 season continued with a 27-20 to the Dallas Cowboys on Thanksgiving. It was the Giants’ seventh-straight loss this season and their eighth-consecutive defeat at the hands of the Cowboys, dating back to the 2020 season.
The Cowboys benefitted from two Giants turnovers, including a pick-6 by DeMarvion Overshown in the second quarter he returned 23 yards to give the Cowboys a 13-7 lead, the Cowboys at that point never relinquishing the lead.
The other came following a Giants fumble in the second half, which the Cowboys converted into another touchdown to cap a six-play scoring drive.
The game started well, as the Giants held the Cowboys to just a field goal after their first possession. The Giants offense took the field with Drew Lock under center for the injured Tommy DeVito.
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Lock was under pressure practically half the game, the Cowboys hitting him 14 times and sacking him six. The Giants also had just as many penalties in this game (13) as they did first downs (17), and their defense once again couldn’t stop the run if they tried, with missed tackles–at least 10 of them in the first half alone–an ongoing problem.
Cowboys running back Rico Dowdle captured his first career 100+ yard rushing game, going for 112 yards and one touchdown against the Giants, who saw three defensive linemen–D.J. Davidson (shoulder), Rakeem Nunez-Roches (stinger) and Dexter Lawrence II (elbow)–leave the game with injuries.
Cowboys quarterback Cooper Rush finished 21 of 36 for 195 yards and one touchdown, his leading receiver being tight end Luke Schoonmaker (five catches on six pass targets).
Lock and running back Tyrone Tracy, Jr. scored the Giants’ two touchdowns, TRacy’s coming on a 1-yard run on the Giants’ opening drive to give them their first lead in a game since Week 6, and then Lock scoring a fourth-quarter garbage time touchdown on an 8-yard rush to make it 27-20 with 2:18 left.
The Giants got the rest of their scoring from kicker Graham Gano, who hit field goals of 46 and 47 yards.
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Giants receiver Malik Nabers caught 13 pass targets for 69 yards, but he also dropped two balls. Rookie tight end Theo Johnson displayed toughness on a few of his receptions, hauling in five catches for 54 yards.
This is the Giants’ ninth time in the last 11 seasons that they’ve lost at least ten games. This loss eliminated them from playoff contention and currently slots them into the No.1 pick in April’s draft.
The Giants will have 10 days to prepare for their next matchup, a home meeting with the New Orleans Saints. They’re now the only team in the NFL to win a game at home still not this season, and they currently have the league’s longest losing streak.
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Jordan Raanan is a reporter for NFL Nation at ESPN. Raanan covers the New York Giants. You can follow him via Twitter @JordanRaanan.
New York Giants quarterback Tommy DeVito is expected to be out for Thursday’s game against the Dallas Cowboys because of his forearm injury and Drew Lock is expected to start in his place, sources told ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Jordan Raanan.
DeVito is listed as questionable for the Thanksgiving Day game, but a source told ESPN on Wednesday that DeVito was considered a long shot to play.
He did not travel with the team to Dallas on Wednesday as he was undergoing further evaluation, the Giants said. The team, however, said it expected him to travel to Dallas later Wednesday.
DeVito took several big hits in Sunday’s 30-7 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He was making his first start of the season after the Giants released former starter Daniel Jones late last week.
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The Giants turn to Lock after bypassing him following the benching of Jones for DeVito. Lock spent the first 10 weeks as the backup, with DeVito as the third string/emergency quarterback.
Lock has a short week and no real practices to get ready for the matchup of NFC East rivals. He also will be playing behind an offensive line without its starting tackles. Andrew Thomas (foot) is on injured reserve and Jermaine Eluemunor (quad) was ruled out Wednesday.
Colorado Avalanche (13-10, in the Central Division) vs. Dallas Stars (13-8, in the Central Division)
Dallas; Friday, 9 p.m. EST
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BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Stars -140, Avalanche +116; over/under is 6.5
BOTTOM LINE: The Dallas Stars host the Colorado Avalanche after the Avalanche took down the Vegas Golden Knights 2-1 in a shootout.
Dallas is 13-8 overall and 4-2-0 against the Central Division. The Stars have a 4-2-0 record in games they score at least one power-play goal.
Colorado is 13-10 overall and 2-3-0 against the Central Division. The Avalanche have a 2-5-0 record in games their opponents serve fewer penalty minutes.
The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Duchene has 12 goals and 14 assists for the Stars. Mason Marchment has five goals and seven assists over the last 10 games.
Cale Makar has eight goals and 22 assists for the Avalanche. Mikko Rantanen has eight goals and seven assists over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Stars: 6-4-0, averaging 3.7 goals, 6.4 assists, 3.1 penalties and 8.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.8 goals per game.
Avalanche: 7-3-0, averaging three goals, 4.8 assists, 2.6 penalties and 5.2 penalty minutes while giving up 2.9 goals per game.
INJURIES: Stars: None listed.
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Avalanche: None listed.
___
The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/42YJDCQBVRG7PDDE46GEADTV4Y.png "Bodycam footage shows arrest of 70-year-old man who died in Dallas police custody")
