Sheriff’s deputies in California claimed they feared for their lives after shooting a man who was filming them from his own garage.

The Sacramento sheriff’s deputies shot Danny Sanchez on Friday. Sanchez is currently in the hospital at the UC Davis Medical Center, where he underwent surgery to remove bullet fragments, according to his father, John Sanchez.

The shooting occurred when the Sheriff’s department SWAT team showed up to arrest a neighbor, Ben Ledford, 62, after he fired off an illegal machine gun from across the street.
When Sanchez saw the incident, and the SWAT team converge, he began recording from his garage. He assumed there wouldn’t be any problem, since he was so far away from the incident, on his own property and even out on the edge of the garage.

Police say that Sanchez was extending his arm with “an object” in his hand. That “object” was a cellphone, Sanchez’s father John “Sonny” Sanchez said. His son was simply trying to videotape the arrest of Ledford. That’s when police opened fire on him.

“He was yelling, ‘Dad I’m shot, I’m shot,’ so I grabbed him inside and closed the garage door. I put a tourniquet around his leg and a clean towel,” John Sanchez explained.

He pointed out four additional bullet holes in his garage as well as several more in his car.

“You can see how many shots they did: one, two three, four — shooting at my son with a cell phone. C’mon that’s ridiculous,” Sanchez commented.

Sgt. Jason Ramos, of the Sacramento County Sheriff’s department Sgt. Jason Ramos’s department said “I think it’s reasonable to think that the officers perceived an immediate threat either to themselves or continued threat to that individual.”

On top of shooting him and arresting him, Sanchez’s home was also searched. But Sgt. Ramos acknowledged Sanchez committed no crime and is not facing any charges whosoever.

The father of a 14-year-old girl who was hit and killed inside a crosswalk on Halloween says he is upset to learn that the driver involved in the fatal crash is only facing a citation for failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk, which he said amounts to a $145 fine.

Victoria Hillman, 14, was with two male friends trick-or-treating when the crash occurred around 7:11 p.m. on Halloween in Taylorsville as the trio was crossing in a marked crosswalk at the intersection of 2700 West and 5930 South. Victoria was pronounced dead at the scene.

“They were halfway through a crosswalk, and one of the boys tried to grab her and pull her back because the van did not stop," said Christopher Hillman, Victoria's father. "It plowed through her. She went on top of the van, under the van. There were fingernails on the asphalt, she was trying to get away from the van.”

Roxeanne Vainuku of the West Valley City Police Department confirmed to FOX 13 News Thursday that detectives and city prosecutors had concluded their investigation into the crash and decided to cite the driver with failure to yield to a pedestrian in a crosswalk.

Hillman claims witnesses reported that driver initially left the scene before returning a short time later.

“From what witnesses say that were right behind her, [the driver] then turned around and said ‘What the hell did I hit?’" Hillman said. "Then she took off. Fifteen minutes later, reportedly, she came back."

West Valley City PD was investigating the case, even though it occurred in Unified Police Department's jurisdiction, because of a potential conflict of interest involving UPD. Hillman said that conflict of interest was due to the fact the driver has a sibling who is a member of UPD.

“And she has a brother that’s on the force, that they’re the ones who showed up to evaluate what had happened," Hillman said. "And a couple of hours later they turned it over to West Valley because there was a conflict of interest. But in that time, I believe something shady went on because she left the scene—I don’t think you should leave the scene—she came back, and the police officer sent her away again within five minutes.”

Vainuku said investigators found that the the driver, 34-year-old Veronica Rodriquez, was 300 feet north of the crosswalk when the teens entered the walk.

Vainuku said Rodriquez had the opportunity to see the teens but for some reason did not. After the driver hit Victoria, Vainuku added Rodriquez drove for about 100 yards before making a U-turn.

Rodriquez wasn't even aware she hit someone, Vainuku said.

Police said there is no evidence of distracted driving or anything to indicate the driver was under the influence.

Hillman said the last few months have been horrible, and he said he has felt like something was off since the beginning.

“I received a phone call that she was dead on the scene," he said. "I went there, they acted really strange about everything. I know they need to keep distance with everybody, but being her father, they just wouldn’t tell me a damn thing. And, it just seemed shady from the beginning and to the end now, where the driver is just being handed a $145 ticket and saying, oh it’s all over after 68 days. It just doesn’t sit well, something’s off. Being that she’s related to the police department that responded and she’s getting off with just a slap on the wrist.”

Shortly after Victoria's death, members of the community called for change at the intersection, which they said was poorly lit and unsafe.

Hillman said the community, particularly children Victoria's age, have been very supportive and have helped him and his wife cope. He said they have done several activities with Victoria's friends to remember and honor her. But, he said people are disheartened by the latest development.

“The community’s pissed,” he said. “There’s a huge outcry. There’s been people that have attended council meetings, just talking about it. We’re trying to get lights up…. And finally this news that I just relayed to everybody today, I mean, everybody’s like, ‘Seriously? What’s going on? A $145 ticket for the life of a 14-year-old girl?' It’s… nothing makes sense right now.”

Hillman added, "everybody that loved her, cared about her, has to pay the price for life, but you pay 145 dollars.”

Victoria's father said he has a chance to appeal the findings of the investigation, which he said is something they plan to do. He said he is hoping media coverage of the case will help generate some interest and lead to change.

“I’m not a judge, I don’t know, but I would hope that in today’s world that we would have laws that would have a better outcome than $145," he said of what he thinks should happen to the driver who killed his daughter. "Whether that’s losing your license for a year, having to speak to the family of the people, of the daughter that you killed: explain what happened. You know, something. Something more than pay your $145 and walk.”

A former Madison County deputy, indicted in a revenge beatdown, has signaled in court documents that he intends to plead guilty.

Justin Watson, charged in the assault of Robert Bryant at a nightclub north of Huntsville after he believed Bryant said something about Watson's then-fiancee, now wife, in July 2012.

A month later, the FBI testified in federal court that Watson pulled over Bryant in a traffic stop, beat him with a baton and choked him unconscious. Bryant was charged with felony assault of an officer.

Bryant sued Sheriff Blake Dorning, Watson and seven other deputies in 2014. He received $625,000 to drop the suit in August of 2014. The FBI announced after the settlement that it was investigating possible civil rights abuses by local police. The federal government indicted Watson on five counts in August of 2015.

The charges on which Watson has been indicted: Two related to the stop and beating, one related to lying about it under oath and two more related to intimidating witnesses, including aiming an unloaded gun at a fellow deputy and pulling the trigger.

According to an order filed Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Karon Owen Bowdre said Watson has asked for a hearing to change his plea. Watson had previously entered a plea of not guilty.

Watson is scheduled to appear before the judge on Wednesday at 11:30 at the U.S. Courthouse in downtown Huntsville.

Watson left the sheriff's department last year.

The sentencing for a former police officer convicted of murdering his friend is set for the end of the month, Gloucester County court officials have confirmed.

James Stuart, an Oak Valley native and former member of the Deptford Township Police Department, was convicted Oct. 1 of murder and aggravated manslaughter. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 18; however, the hearing has been moved to Jan. 29.

Stuart admitted to shooting his longtime friend, David Compton, after a long night of drinking on Jan. 5, 2013. He claimed during the trial that he had picked up a gun he thought was unloaded, accidentally shooting 27-year-old Compton in the face. Stuart had a BAC level of .14 when Deptford police took him to a hospital for a blood test.

Compton died several days later, after being taken off life support.

A police sergeant in St. Paul, Minn., has been placed on administrative leave after he allegedly posted an inflammatory statement online, telling motorists to run over Black Lives Matter “idiots” participating in a march on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.

“Run them over,” Sgt. Jeffrey M. Rothecker allegedly wrote on Facebook, according to Fox affiliate KMSP. “Keep traffic flowing and don’t slow down for any of these idiots who try and block the street.”

The comment was spotted on Saturday by Andrew Henderson, a community activist who monitors police activity by filming authorities and posting his footage online, according to the Star Tribune.

“I was just flabbergasted,” Henderson told the newspaper. “A law enforcement officer is supposed to serve and protect the people, not incite violence against them.”

Henderson recorded himself filing an internal affairs complaint about the post, in which he named Rothecker. Henderson told the Star Tribune that he believed the Facebook account belonged to Rothecker.

The St. Paul Police Department told KMSP that an officer “has been put on administrative leave,” though the department has not publicly identified Rothecker.

But St. Paul Police Federation attorney Chris Wachtler told the Star Tribune that the union is representing Rothecker.

Police told KMSP that the Facebook account has since been “taken down,” though they haven’t said by whom.