SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Sacramento Police Department officer is being charged with vehicular manslaughter months after crashing into a motorcyclist who later died, according to officials.
A Sacramento County Superior Court Judge issued a misdemeanor warrant for vehicular manslaughter for officer Benjamin Jillson, Wednesday. Officials say he turned himself in to the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office where he was processed and released.
Body camera and other video was released Thursday and can be found HERE. The content is graphic.
The crash happened Oct. 31, 2022 in the area of Bell Street and May Street. Officials say Jillson was heading to a call for a "felony in progress."
Investigators say Jillson made an illegal U-turn in the middle of a residential neighborhood without any police lights or sirens on when the motorcyclist — later identified as Denzil Broadhurst — crashed into the side of the car.
Broadhurst sustained major injuries and was taken to the hospital where he was later pronounced dead. In the video, Jillson makes attempts to keep the rider conscious and calls for medical assistance but does not move the rider from where he was lying in the street.
Detectives and medical officials arrived on scene roughly five minutes later and began treating the motorcyclist as Jillson hung around his car.
"Mr. Broadhurst needlessly and tragically lost his life," said Attorney Robert Glassman, who is representing Broadhurst's family. “Police departments and cities need to be sure that officers know how to drive their vehicles safely.”
Glassman is a partner at a Los Angeles-based personal injury law firm called, Panish | Shea | Boyle | Ravipudi LLP. He said a civil lawsuit is pending against the City of Sacramento and Sacramento Police Department.
While he said the family is pleased to see some measure of justice in this case, they are still heartbroken at the loss of their loved one.
After reviewing the case and conducting an investigation, the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office say the "facts supported a charge of vehicular manslaughter."
Two months after the crash, SPD announced their department wide "Traffic Safety Stay" to review data, best practices and policies related to driving.
Jillson remains on administrative leave with his peace officer powers suspended.
ABC10 received some questions from viewers wondering why this was issued as a misdemeanor warrant.
ABC10 reached out to the DA's office to ask them about the misdemeanor and they told us they could not comment on a pending case.
ABC10 then consulted our legal expert Mark Reichel who said most cases of vehicular manslaughter are filed as misdemeanors because they are accidents. He said it would have to be proven that the crash was gross negligence or extremely reckless to be considered a felony.
