Teen: Officer charged with murder said nothing before shooting

DALLAS — A Texas teen shot by an off-duty police officer admits he and his friend were stealing third-row seats out of the back of an SUV on Sunday, but he doesn't understand why the officer used deadly force over stolen property.

Farmers Branch Police Officer Ken Johnson was arrested and charged with murder and aggravated assault Wednesday in the shooting death of a 16-year-old suspect.

Edgar Rodriguez, 16, was released from the hospital Wednesday. His friend, Jose Cruz, was killed in the incident.

Johnson said he spotted the two teens breaking into his personal vehicle at his apartment complex. According to Johnson's attorney, Chris Livingston, Johnson announced himself repeatedly as a police officer before giving chase to the suspects, who had left the scene in Cruz's red Dodge Charger.

“We took the third row seats, we put them in the car and we left,” said Rodriguez. “We didn’t see no one outside, so we thought we got away with it, y'know?”

Rodriguez said he and Cruz didn’t know anyone was on to them until they left the complex.

“We saw an SUV in the rearview mirror. Jose told me, ‘Look, I think that’s the guy,' " Rodriguez said.

Surveillance video shows Johnson’s vehicle appearing to make contact with Cruz’s car.

“He hit us twice and we crashed out,” Rodriguez said.

The teen said the airbags went off and he knew they were both in trouble for wrecking the car and for stealing.

“What can we do now? We’ll have to wait on the police now,” Rodriguez says he was thinking. “Then Jose was like, ‘Edgar, Edgar,’ and I looked to his window, and I see the guy with a gun and he just starts shooting through the window.”

Rodriguez claims Johnson fired 17 rounds. He also said the off-duty officer returned to his SUV and brought out another gun after firing the rounds, but that he did not fire that weapon.

Multiple rounds struck Rodriguez through both hands, ear, and grazed his scalp on the back of his head. His middle finger on his right hand was shot off, a result of shielding his head from bullets, he said.

“There wasn’t a reason for him to shoot at us when we didn’t even have no weapons,” Rodriguez said.

Cruz died at the scene.

Johnson, 35, was arrested Wednesday by the Addison Police Department on one count of murder for killing Cruz and one count of aggravated assault for shooting Rodriguez.

He was released from the Dallas County jail early Thursday after posting 10% of $150,000, or $15,000.

The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office Civil Rights Unit investigates all police-related shootings. In a statement Thursday, the district attorney's office said a grand jury will review the evidence and decide whether to indict Johnson.

“There’s no reason to shoot someone over some third-rows (seats), y'know?” Rodriguez said. “He could have just pointed the gun at us and waited for the cops to arrive.”

In Texas, burglary of a vehicle is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by a minimum six months in jail.

Follow David Goins on Twitter: @dgoins