Eyewitness to chaos

• Man: Cop ‘had the gun out as soon as he got out of the car’

By Jim Redden

The Portland Tribune, Apr 6, 2004, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Police officer Jason Sery had drawn his gun by the time he stepped out of his police cruiser moments before fatally shooting motorist James Jahar Perez on March 28, according to a North Portland resident who says he witnessed the entire incident.

“He had the gun out as soon as he got out of the car. That’s what caught my eye,” said Martin Dennis.

Dennis lives a few blocks from the small retail mall in the 7200 block of North Fessenden Street where Perez was shot. On that Sunday evening, Dennis said, he was driving to the small grocery store in the mall and was behind the police car that pulled over Perez. Dennis said he stopped his truck and had a direct view into the driver’s side of Perez’s car as the incident unfolded.

Police Chief Derrick Foxworth said he could not comment on the allegation because the Perez shooting is still under investigation. He also would not comment on whether the police had interviewed Dennis but said the police had talked to more than 40 people in the case.

Foxworth promised that all details will be released after the case is considered by a Multnomah County grand jury.

“Everything will come out,” Foxworth said during a break at Monday morning’s meeting of the Chief’s Forum, a citizens advisory group.

Police officer Scott Westerman urged people not to jump to conclusions until all the facts are known.

“There is a lot of misinformation out there,” Westerman, a representative of the Portland Police Association, said at the forum meeting.

Dennis described his version of events during a Saturday afternoon news conference in the downtown office of his attorney, M. Christian Bottoms. The attorney had represented Dennis in a previous federal civil rights lawsuit against the Portland Police Bureau Ñ including Sery. In the suit, Dennis claimed that Sery and another officer beat him unconscious Aug. 26, 2001, after police were called to intervene in an altercation between Dennis and an attendant at a gas station in North Portland.

Dennis said he probably he was unconscious for at least 40 minutes and woke up handcuffed in the back of a patrol car. Photos taken by his wife shortly after the incident show Dennis’ left eye was swollen shut and blood was running from his left ear down the side of his face.

No charges were filed against Dennis in the incident.

The city settled the federal suit for $5,000, without admitting any fault on the part of the police bureau and its officers. In its answer to the federal court, the city claimed Sery was not present when Dennis was injured and said that Dennis had resisted arrest and only suffered a bloody nose.

The suit was settled before sworn testimony was taken on the incident.

Dennis said he has had several confrontations with Portland police officers over the years, including a number that resulted in him being taken to the detox center. He denies being convicted of any crimes, however, and the Portland Tribune could not find any criminal record.

On Saturday, Dennis disputed parts of the police version of the Perez shooting. Dennis said Perez did not struggle with the other officer on the scene in the moments before he was allegedly shot by Sery.

Police bureau commanders have said Perez fought with officer Sean Macomber just before the shooting.

“There was no struggle. This guy walked up to the car and tried to pull him out. Then he stepped back, and Sery shot him,” Dennis said.

Dennis also said he did not see Perez appear to reach for anything inside his car. Bureau commanders have said that Sery believed Perez was armed when he shot him. But Dennis said Perez’s hands remained in plain sight.

“His hands were right there the entire time,” Dennis said.

At one point in the incident, Dennis said Macomber’s body blocked his view of Perez “for a moment.”

“I don’t think there was enough time for Perez to reach for something then. I don’t think he reached for anything at all,” Dennis said.

Chaos caught on tape

Dennis also tape-recorded much of the Perez incident. He said he began carrying a tape recorder with him after the 2001 beating.

Dennis said he turned on the recorder just after Perez was shot. The recording captured the ensuing chaos, including the sound of a Taser being discharged, police sirens and a brief conversation between Dennis and an unidentified police officer.

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