A homeless man drowned in Arizona as three police officers watched the scene without rendering assistance, according to a video and transcript released Monday by local authorities.
Officers received an early morning alert on May 28 for the artificial lake area of Tempe, Arizona, due to noise caused by the man, who later died, and his companion. After talking to the woman, officers approached homeless Sean Bickings, 34, to question him, according to the statement released by the government.
After a few minutes, Bickings climbed over the fence protecting the lake and into the water. Agents said he had no right to remain in the lake, but the man swam to an area under a bridge. The footage from the video is cut short, as the city government deemed the remainder “very sensitive”, but a transcript of the dialogue has been released.
“So what’s your plan now?” asks one of the officers, according to the transcript. “I’m going to drown. I’m going to drown,” Bickings said, according to the text. “No, you won’t. Go to the column and wait,” replies another officer.
“I can’t. I can’t,” Bickings said. “Okay, I’m not going to jump after you,” warns the second agent.
According to the remainder of the transcript, officers insisted that the man swim on his own, rejecting his companion’s pleas for help.
“Can you hear me?” were the last words attributed to Sean Bickings.
One of the officers wrote that Bickings “hasn’t surfaced in about 30 seconds.” The body was recovered late in the morning.
The three police officers were suspended pending the results of investigations initiated by the authorities, the city said, which announced that it intends to publish images from the cameras of other agents in the coming days.
