COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina state trooper’s dashboard video shows an unarmed driver being shot just seconds after he was stopped for a seat-belt offense — and the trooper, who was fired last week, has now been charged with assault.
As Levar Jones cried in pain waiting for an ambulance, he repeated one question: ‘‘Why did you shoot me?’’
Jones’s groans and then-Trooper Sean Groubert’s reply — ‘‘Well you dove head first back into your car’’ — were captured by the camera.
State Public Safety Director Leroy Smith, Groubert’s boss, fired the officer Friday. He called the video ‘‘disturbing’’ and said ‘‘Groubert reacted to a perceived threat where there was none.’’
The 31-year-old former trooper is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature, a felony that carries up to 20 years in prison. He was released after paying 10 percent of a $75,000 bond.
The dashboard camera video was released by prosecutors Wednesday night after they showed it at Groubert’s bond hearing.
Jones was stopped Sept. 4 as he pulled into a convenience store on a busy Columbia road. With the camera recording, Groubert pulled up without his siren on as Jones was getting out of his vehicle to go into the store. ‘‘Can I see your license please?’’ Groubert asked.
As Jones turned and reached back into his car, Groubert shouted, ‘‘Get outa the car, get outa the car.’’ He began firing before he finished the second sentence. There was a third shot as Jones staggered away, backing up with his hands raised, and then a fourth.
From the first shot to the fourth, the video clicked off three seconds. Jones’ wallet could be seen flying out of his hands as he raised them.
Groubert’s lawyer, Barney Giese, said the shooting was justified because the trooper feared for his life and the safety of others. Police officers are rarely charged in South Carolina. In August, a prosecutor refused to file criminal charges against a York County deputy who shot a 70-year-old man after mistaking his cane for a shotgun during an after-dark traffic stop.
Groubert is white and Jones is black.
State Representative Joe Neal is an African-American who has spoken against racism in law enforcement for years.
‘‘You are doing exactly what the police officer asked you do to and you get shot for it?’’ said Neal. ‘‘That’s insane.’’