A man fatally shot by a Saguache County sheriff’s deputy in July ran at the deputy with a copper pipe and began hitting him after the deputy stopped him on the side of the road, body-worn camera footage shows.
Colorado Bureau of Investigation officials identified the man killed by a Saguache County sheriff’s deputy near Crestone on July 25 as 40-year-old Jonathan Aaron Wood.
The deputy, whose name has not been released, was driving when he saw Wood walking about a mile away from the entrance to the Baca Grande Subdivision.
Wood had active arrest warrants for assaulting a peace officer and criminal mischief in unrelated cases, according to the CBI.
Footage from the deputy’s body-worn camera showed Wood walking down the road in a rural area while carrying multiple bags on his back when the deputy pulled over and called out his name.
As the deputy caught up to him, Wood told him his name is “not Mr. Wood.”
When the deputy tried to guide him out of the road because a tractor-trailer was driving toward them, Wood told him not to touch him, according to the footage.
The deputy asked for Wood’s ID, and Wood told him he didn’t have one, that his name was Michael and he’s “not who you’re looking for.”
Wood then held out the copper pipe in front of him with both hands, and the deputy told him several times to “put the stick down” and relax, according to the footage.
Less than two minutes into the encounter, Wood ran at the deputy and started hitting him with the pipe.
He continued hitting the deputy for around 10 seconds, who tried to block the blows with his arms and can be heard saying, “Put the stick down” and “I’ll (expletive) shoot you, I swear to God.”
Camera footage showed the deputy shooting Wood twice, who then fell to the ground and started screaming “You killed me, you shot me” over and over again.
Several people driving by pulled over to help as the deputy struggled to handcuff Wood, who tried to sit up while asking for water and help.
The deputy ran to get a first aid kit from his truck, cut off Wood’s shirt and applied a large bandage over the gunshot wound on his chest, the footage showed.
“You gotta lay down, man. I’m going to save you, okay?” the deputy said as Wood tried to sit up.
Wood at times spoke nonsensically and at one point could be heard saying “Please, God, let this be over with” and that he couldn’t breathe.
At least two men driving by stopped to help and told the deputy they saw him being attacked, and additional passersby who appeared to be off-duty paramedics also helped provide medical aid before an ambulance arrived at the scene 19 minutes after the shooting.
Paramedics performed chest compressions on Wood before they pronounced him dead.
The deputy is on administrative leave while the CBI and the sheriff’s office investigate the shooting.
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Originally Published: August 9, 2024 at 6:00 a.m.