Content warning: The following story and accompanying video contain graphic images and descriptions of Pittsburgh police officers' interactions with Jim Rogers on Oct. 13, 2021, in Bloomfield. The video was provided by attorney Todd Hollis in accordance with a federal court order. Viewer and reader discretion is advised.
For 17 minutes, Jim Rogers rocks back and forth against the hard plastic backseat. He is moaning, panting and nearly unintelligible as he knocks his head against the back of the seat.
He asks for help, and he asks for medics.
Pittsburgh police officers promised him both. Neither arrived.
For 17 minutes officers in and around the patrol car chat amongst themselves while Rogers moans. The chit-chat is punctuated by the driver, identified as Officer Pat Desaro, telling Rogers he was fine — to just breathe, and to stop yelling out the window.
New video footage released publicly Sunday on the website of Todd Hollis, the attorney representing Rogers’ estate in a federal lawsuit against the city of Pittsburgh, showed never-before-seen vantage points of officers’ Oct. 13, 2021, interactions with Rogers, a 54-year-old Black man.
The city settled the case for $8 million last year.
The 52-minute video is an amalgamation of footage recorded by bystanders, body-worn cameras and cameras within the police vehicle.
Mr. Hollis said the goal in releasing the video is to “uphold the principles of justice and integrity in the legal system.”
“We encourage viewers to engage with this material in an informed and respectful manner, contributing positively to the discourse surrounding this case,” he said. “It is through informed public discussion and understanding that justice is best served.”
‘I’m listening to you, sir’
Jim Rogers thought the bike was free.
“I thought somebody was giving it away,” he said earnestly when confronted by Pittsburgh police Officer Keith Edmonds on an overcast October day in 2021.
It was 10:30 a.m.
In the next 45 minutes, Rogers begged repeatedly for medics and to be taken to a hospital. He said a dozen times that he couldn’t breathe. He became more and more incoherent.
Officer Edmonds responded to Harriet Street in the city’s Bloomfield neighborhood Oct. 13 after a 911 caller reported someone taking a bike from a porch. Rogers, wearing a black T-shirt, gray sweatpants and a disposable COVID-19 mask, has no bike on him when the officer arrives.
“Why’d you take that bike?” the officer asked.
As Rogers tried to tell him he thought it was free, Officer Edmonds cut him off.
“Why would you think that?” and then: “Be quiet.”
The interaction at first is tense but nonviolent. Officer Edmonds tells Rogers to put his hands up.
“If you stick your hands in your pockets again, I’m going to take you to the ground.”
“Yes, sir, thank you,” Rogers responds.
Rogers appears to become flustered when Officer Edmonds begins reaching into his pocket. He starts trying to put his hands into his pockets. Officer Edmonds drops him to the ground.
“OK, sir, OK, sir. I’m listening to you,” Rogers says, now on his hands and knees. “I’m listening to you, sir.”
The officer tells him to put his hands behind his back. Rogers doesn’t immediately respond but remains on his hands and knees.
Over four minutes, Rogers is hit again and again with Officer Edmonds’ Taser, appearing to become more disoriented and incoherent each time. He does not appear combative or violent, but rather confused. Twice he tries to run away. He is stunned again and again — up to 10 times, the video shows. Each time, while he doesn’t fully comply with the demands Officer Edmonds screams at him, he remains either sitting or on his hands and knees.
Late last year, Mr. Hollis filed a motion to amend the confidentially agreement in the case. The agreement originally dictated that nearly all evidence and information gleaned during the case would remain confidential.
The city agreed, and U.S. Magistrate Cynthia Reed Eddy signed off on the changes last week. The order specifically made public 911 calls, police dispatches, all dashboard and body-worn camera footage from the police interaction with Rogers, videos provided to attorneys by the public, and media provided by UPMC.
Mayor Ed Gainey’s office declined to comment on the video and its release.
Nine officers were disciplined for their alleged roles in the incident. All have appealed their discipline, and most are back to work.
Bob Swartzwelder, president of the Fraternal Order of Police union representing Pittsburgh officers, said that agreement is in violation of the officers’ contract. He said neither the city nor the union can release investigative information unless a case is appealed beyond arbitration. Using an agreement with a third-party, he said, violates the city’s contract with police.
He chastised what he called the city’s “true incompetence.”
“The labor section doesn’t talk to the civil litigation section,” he said, noting he’ll be taking “significant legal action” against the city.
‘I don’t know if he’s breathing’
In the back of the police vehicle, Rogers seems to deteriorate. His breathing becomes more ragged, and he slumps over amid the rocking.
After 17 minutes, Officer Greg Boss gets into the passenger seat of the patrol car.
It’s 10:56 a.m.
Rogers continues to rock and moan on the split screen of the video footage. One view is Officer Boss’ body cam, and another is Officer Desaro’s. A view from the front dash cam includes a smaller inset from the camera focused on Rogers. A fourth portion of the screen shows the route the officers took in real time.
The two officers try once or twice to engage Rogers. They ask what he’s doing in the city if he’s from Penn Hills.
“Just hanging out,” he rasps.
“Just hanging out,” one officer repeats.
Rogers eventually falls quiet, slumped to one side.
They get to the hospital at 11:13 a.m.
Officer Boss tries to rouse him through the open back window, reaching through the bars to jostle Rogers when he doesn’t answer.
“Jimmy. Jim. Hey, Jim. Jim. Jim. Jim. Come on, brother, come on, Jim. Wake up,” he calls.
Then: “I don’t know if he’s breathing, bro. Grab the medics.”
Officer Boss’ calls to Rogers become hurried, and Officer Desaro’s camera shows him walking toward the emergency room in search of medics.
Other officers arrive and help pull the unresponsive man from the backseat. They lay him on the ground.
“He’s not breathing,” someone says.
The video ends with Officer Edmonds performing CPR.
Rogers was pronounced dead the next day. The Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office ultimately ruled the death an accident caused by an injury that occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted.
Nine officers were disciplined in connection with Rogers’ death and the incidents leading up to it, including five who were fired. The city and police officials have consistently declined to identify those officers, all of whom were dropped from the lawsuit after the city agreed to a settlement.
All of the officers disciplined in the case appealed the outcome.
Two of the officers ultimately retired. Of four who were initially fired, three received lesser discipline from the city and have returned to service. The case of one officer who was fired remains pending as it works its way through arbitration. Three other officers faced suspension, two of whom have returned to work facing a lesser penalty that what the city originally imposed. One case in which an officer faced suspension remains pending.
First Published: January 29, 2024, 8:43 p.m.
Updated: January 30, 2024, 7:22 p.m.
