JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Video shows two Jacksonville Sheriff's Office community service cars stopped in the middle of West Bay Street when the driver of an approaching car slows down behind them and is rear-ended by another vehicle.
The footage has raised questions about the Sheriff's Office's policy on blocking traffic, especially when it appears to show the community service officers talking to each other in the middle of the road, though their cars are equipped with radios.
Kelvin Walker sent News4Jax the video, which was recorded on his dashboard-mounted camera the morning of May 2.
WATCH: Uncut dashboard camera video
Walker was driving along Bay Street when his camera captured a JSO community service car ahead of him switching lanes, then pulling up next to another JSO community service car that was stopped in the street without its overhead emergency lights.
Moments later, the video shows the officer in the car on the right turning on the overhead emergency lights. Then, the officer on the left turns on his overhead lights. In the video, the two stopped service officers appear to be talking.
As Walker slows down, his car is rear-ended by another vehicle -- nearly pushing Walker’s car into the back of both patrol cars.
Despite the two wrecked vehicles behind them, the video appears to capture both community service officers making U-turns and taking off. Seconds later, the video shows a community service car with lights on racing down a parallel street.
Walker was left with damage to his car.
He wrote a complaint to JSO, which launched an internal affairs investigation.
Walker said he was told by an investigator that the investigation was complete and found that the two community service officers had been discussing an incident that had just occurred on Interstate 95 at the time he was rear-ended behind them.
Walker said an anonymous source within JSO informed him that community service officers are equipped with two-way radios, which they could use to communicate with each other without impeding traffic flow during the morning rush hour.
News4Jax contacted the Sheriff's Office to get a response about the video, but was told, because it's under investigation, JSO cannot comment.