Rayshard Brooks was on probation and faced going back to prison if he was charged with a DUI, DailyMail.com can reveal.
It was the fear of incarceration that likely caused Brooks to panic in the face of imminent arrest and caused him to make a break for it.
Brooks was shot and killed on Friday, June 12 when cops received a 911 call to the Wendy’s at University Avenue in Atlanta. Brooks was drunk and asleep at the wheel of his car and blocking the fast food restaurant’s drive-thru lane.
The 27-year-old father of four was polite and compliant with officers across the 20 minutes during which officers Devin Brosnan, 26, and Garrett Rolfe, 27, questioned him as to how much he had drunk and how he had ended up in the drive-thru.
As the interaction neared its tragic conclusion, Brooks suggested to officers that he could just walk home saying that it wasn’t far.
But after Brooks failed a field sobriety test and blew 0.108 when breathalyzed (0.08 is the legal limit in Georgia), Rolfe who has since been fired, moved to cuff Brooks who suddenly resisted. Both officers were clearly taken by surprise.
As their bodycameras fell to the ground in the scuffle that ensued one shouted to Brooks to ‘stop fighting’ and warned him, ‘You’re going to get tased,’ but the peaceable incident quickly escalated into violence.
Now DailyMail.com has uncovered the fear that could have caused Brooks to panic in the face of imminent arrest and caused him to make a break for it.
Rayshard Brooks was on probation and faced going back to prison if he was charged with a DUI, DailyMail.com can reveal. It was the fear of incarceration that likely caused Brooks to panic in the face of imminent arrest and caused him to make a break for it
Brooks was shot and killed on Friday, June 12 when cops received a 911 call to the Wendy’s at University Avenue in Atlanta. Brooks was drunk and asleep at the wheel of his car and blocking the fast food restaurant’s drive-thru lane. He was polite and compliant with officers across the 20 minutes during which he was questioned on how much he had drunk and how he had ended up in the drive-thru
But after Brooks failed a field sobriety test and blew 0.108 when breathalyzed (0.08 is the legal limit in Georgia), Rolfe who has since been fired, moved to cuff Brooks who suddenly resisted. Both officers were clearly taken by surprise. He tried to make a break for it and was shot twice in the back (left and right)
The charges to which Brooks pleaded guilty and for which he was still on probation dated back to August 2014 when he was convicted on four counts – False Imprisonment, Simple Battery/Family, Battery Simple and Felony Cruelty/Cruelty to Children.
He was tried in Clayton County and sentenced to seven years on the first count, with one year in prison and six on probation and 12 months for each of the other three counts, sentences to be served concurrently.
His sentence was revised, and he was sent back to prison for 12 months in July 2016 when he violated the terms of his probation.
Brooks had not been in trouble since that year until last December when he went to Ohio without informing his probation officer and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
That warrant was revoked and the case dismissed when he returned to Georgia on January 6.
According to his wife, Tomika Miller, Brooks was a devoted husband to her and loving father to their three daughters and his stepson.
According to his wife, Tomika Miller, Brooks was a devoted husband to her and loving father to their three daughters (pictured) and his stepson. She last saw her husband at 4pm on Friday when she went home to unwind after the family had gone bowling an outing at which, she said, they ‘had a blast’
The charges to which Brooks pleaded guilty and for which he was still on probation dated back to August 2014 when he was convicted on four counts – False Imprisonment, Simple Battery/Family, Battery Simple and Felony Cruelty/Cruelty to Children. Brooks had not been in trouble since that year until last December when he went to Ohio without informing his probation officer and a warrant was issued for his arrest
DailyMail.com can reveal that Officer Rolfe begged Rayshard Brooks to stay alive after shots were fired, as seen on the officer’s body camera
Amid angry shouts and accusations from bystanders Rolfe can be clearly heard pleading, ‘Mr. Brooks keep breathing. Keep breathing for me
Brooks’ blue shirt can be seen surrounded by officers who tried to save his life
Speaking to CNN, Miller recalled her husband as a happy person who always kept her spirits up and doted on their children.
She has told how Brooks pushed her to be a better person and said of her children: ‘They got him wrapped around their little fingers.
‘There’s nothing they can’t have even when I’m saying, ”Hey, stop, don’t give them that, they don’t need that”.’
She last saw her husband at 4pm on Friday when she went home to unwind after the family had gone bowling, an outing at which she said, they ‘had a blast.’
Now she revealed her one great regret for which she carries a sense of guilt is that she did not stay with Brooks that day.
She said: ‘I know he wanted me to stay with him. I was just so tired that day.’
Brooks’ death has been ruled a homicide by Fulton County Medical Examiner who conducted an autopsy on Sunday, June 14.
DailyMail.com can also reveal that Rolfe begged Brooks to live as he desperately administered CPR to the dying man.
Rolfe’s bodycam came off during the violent altercation that erupted when he tried to cuff Brooks telling him he’d had too much to drink to be driving.
But the camera never stopped recording, as it was picked up and carried around by other officers called out to investigate the shooting before eventually being returned to its owner.
Amid angry shouts and accusations from by-standers Rolfe can be clearly heard pleading, ‘Mr. Brooks keep breathing. Keep breathing for me.’
The jerky bodycam footage captures him kneeling on the ground and administering CPR to the bleeding man while Brosnan looks on.
Rolfe administered CPR until the ambulance arrived and can be heard repeatedly calling Mr. Brooks’ name as he tried to keep him alive.
Officer Garrett Rolfe (left) was fired from the force after firing the shots that killed Brooks on Friday night, while Officer Devin Bronsan (right), who was also present but did not fire, has been placed on administrative leave
The Wendy’s is pictured after it was set on fire during protests that erupted after the slaying
The Georgia Bureau of Investigations are still investigating the shooting and Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard is considering bringing charges against officer Rolfe who fired three times with two bullets striking Brooks in the back.
According Howard from what he has seen Rolfe would have a hard time arguing self-defense, despite the fact that Brooks grabbed Brosnan’s taser and turned to deploy the stun gun against Rolfe as he chased him.
Howard has stated that a Taser is not a lethal weapon and that therefore the officers’ lives could not be considered under threat as they had already established that Brooks was otherwise unarmed.
For her part Miller has said that she is not angry with the officer who killed her husband because: ‘God will deal with that.’
She added: ‘I know my husband would never want me to be upset with them or hold that feeling in my heart. He was a very forgiving person.’