Three Arizona police officers watched as Sean Bickings drowned in a lake while his wife begged them to save him.
Body camera footage revealed Bickings struggling in the water while officers stood by and did nothing. Meanwhile, his wife was screaming out for them to help him.
It all began when police arrived at Tempe Center for the Arts on May 28 after receiving calls about a domestic disturbance between the victim and his spouse. However, the pair denied that a fight had taken place.
Bickings reportedly tried to flee from officers as they arrived at the scene and ran into Tempe Town Lake. In a statement released on Jun. 3, Tempe officials said he climbed over a four-foot fence by the Elmore Pedestrian Bridge when “officers told the couple they were running their names through a database used to check whether people have outstanding arrest warrants.”
Shortly after, Bickings became distressed in the lake.
“I’m going to drown,” the 34-year-old man said, according to a transcript of the incident.
“No, you’re not,” one of the officers responded.
“I’m drowning,” Bickings replied.
“Come back over to the pylon,” the same officer told him.
“I can’t. I can’t (inaudible),” the Arizona man said.
“OK, I’m not jumping in after you,” another officer said.
As the exchange was happening, the victim’s wife told the authorities that she was “distraught” because her husband was drowning, and they allegedly wouldn’t help.
“I’m just distraught because he’s drowning right in front of him, and you won’t help,” she said.
As a result, one of them reportedly threatened to arrest her, saying, “If you don’t calm down, I’m going to put you in my car.”
Bickings cried out again, yelling, “I can’t touch. Oh God. Please help me. Help me,” he said, adding, “Can you hear me?”
Eventually, the man went under but never resurfaced.
Authorities retrieved Bickings’ body from the lake hours later, and he was pronounced dead at the scene.
The officers involved were reportedly placed on administrative leave while the Arizona Department of Public Safety and Scottsdale Police examined the police’s response to Bickings’ drowning.
“The three Tempe police officers who responded to the call and witnessed the drowning have been placed on non-disciplinary paid administrative leave pending the investigations, as is customary in critical incidents,” Tempe officials said in their release.
