THE PALOMARES DOSSIER: UNCOVERED #police #cops #government #camera

Don't move. Don't do anything stupid, okay? The traffic stop you're about to see in this police body-worn camera video appears to now be the subject of a federal criminal investigation. This video was shared with NBC7 Investigates. Alexis Rivas joins us. Alexis, I watched this video, all 12 minutes of it earlier today, which some may find disturbing. Yeah, the police video shows repeated physical and verbal threats to kill a handcuffed 15-year-old. The person who made those threats is now a police chief. Wow, this is deja vu here. Remember the last video. Get on the ground. Lie down. Body-camera video shows Officer Thomas Shook enter the store, then order Williams to the ground. Williams lies face down, unarmed, as officers surround him. Then the video shows Officer Shook press his gun against Williams' head. Where are you headed? Back to Escondido. Late September last year, license plate readers flagged this car. Do you have your driver's license, registration, proof of insurance? A match to a car seen near a drive-by shooting days earlier. No one got hurt, but a homeowner reported some damage. Get the front, the front passenger. The man who pulled this driver over is Chris Palomares with San Pascual Tribal Police. Now, if you look at the date on the body cam right there, it says 9-24-25. Well, how about that? It's the day after my birthday. And they just said this dude was a corporal back then, and now he's the chief. We're in two years. What the hell's going on? I guess the old saying is right. Violate rights, get stripes. I've never met you before. The highest ranking officer at this traffic stop. Here, unlock your door. Don't reach for it. Unlock your door. Inside the car, four teenagers between 15 and 19. If I find it, I'm going to f*** you over. That's the driver in the red jacket. If you tell me, I'm going to go easy on you. Where's the gun at? Have they carried it? No, I'm not sure. So Palomares decides to cuff and search each passenger one by one. You want me to detain him? As Palomares searches the car, he hears an officer say something. And this is the moment that everything changed. Wow, this psycho does not need to have a badge. You hear me? Okay, yeah. How old are you? Okay, well, you're going to be a dead 15-year-old if you move. Is it allowed to tell me that? I'm not a lawyer, but I would lean on the side of no, because you're in handcuffs. And they took your gun away. Now that this body cam's hit the internet, I guess we're going to see what the court of public opinion is. And we the people do what we do. What? What'd you say? Get on the ground. Get on your f***ing face. Get on your face. Don't f***ing move. It happened fast. So let's watch that again. And this time in slow motion. It appears the other officer is pulling a gun from the 15-year-old's pants. But this is the only angle we have. And keep in mind, he's handcuffed. You hear me? Matthew Kirby Jr. is now 16 years old. He and his mom agreed we could show his face. Why? Like, I just want to know why. Why was so mad at my son? Their family now lives in Missouri. But their roots run deep on San Pascual land. Where Rachel was born. Where she lived for more than three decades. And where she had Matthew. He was so close to losing his life. We played the video for them. This is the first time either of them watched what happened that night. How old are you? 15. Okay. The officer knew that my son was 15 years old. And he still continued to pull the gun to his head. And the whole time I can't physically move. I have handcuffs on. So it's like... So for him to say that... You're going to be a dead 15-year-old if you move. I just don't know what to say. It hurts. Because I remember that... Get on your face. Where both of the officers were kind of tugging with me. Don't move. And that's when I thought I was going to die. Because he's telling me to lay down. And the other officer is picking me up. Lift him up. And I didn't know what to do. There's nothing I could do. I'm just heartbroken. That just hurts. It hurts to see your son go through that. In the video, we see an officer pull what looks like a gun out of what looks like your waist. Were you carrying a gun that night? His family's attorney stopped Matthew from answering that question. The 15-year-old had a gun on him. He said to protect Matthew from any future criminal charges filed in retaliation for this interview. I got him detained. But even if Matthew did have a gun on him, law enforcement leaders say this shouldn't have happened. This, some of the things that I saw in this video, are not in alignment with what police officers are trained to do. Paul Capitelli would know because he ran the California Police Commission. It's the agency that sets the standard for officer training. Training that is not required by tribal police. This is not the way police officers are trained to do business. You're being detained because you don't have a driver's license, okay? We asked him to watch the entire body camera video and read through internal reports tied to the stop. If I were the chief or the employing entity and I saw this, I would immediately want this investigated. Why? Well, because there doesn't appear to be, at least from looking at this video, from everything that we see here, there doesn't appear to be a justification. I'm trying to reach the director of police, Chris Palomares. I tried calling San Pascual Police Chief Chris Palomares at the station several times, but he never called me back. So we found him at a public event at a park in Valley Center. I asked him for an interview to explain what he did and said, but the police chief told me, quote, on the advice of legal counsel, he had no comment. Hi, is this Chairman Cope? So I called the man the police chief answers to, Tribal Council Chairman Stephen Cope, the highest elected office on San Pascual Band of Mission Indians land. Appears to be body worn camera video. His answer was also no comment. And he hung up. It's unclear if the tribe is conducting an internal investigation, but experts told us the Tribal Council isn't the only authority here. Tribal police can still be subject to scrutiny by the state and federal government. To convict an officer of a federal crime is a very high standard. Just on its face, it looks like it might be the standard. We also showed the video to the former U.S. attorney of the Eastern District of California. Specifically, he believes the video may show Palomares abusing his authority as a police officer, a federal crime. This is potential prison. And he's not just taking into account the body cam video. This is the internal police report. Palomares wrote up about that traffic stop. This is what he says happened on the side of the road. Palomares wrote he held Kirby at gunpoint while Sandoval placed him in handcuffs. But the video shows Matthew was already in cuffs. Also, Palomares said Matthew was, quote, tense and uncooperative. But just from the video, it looks like the suspect was completely compliant and was not posing a threat to the officer at all. Another potential problem? We found false information. When are the people going to realize cops do nothing but lie? In it, he says he's a California certified peace officer. But we checked with the state police commission and they told us that has never been true. I'm from San Francisco. So to have somebody like that on our tribe is very heartbroken. And I'm glad that light shined on this. I'm so grateful, but I'm so heartbroken. It really, really hurts. The San Diego County Sheriff's Office told NBC7 Investigates they are aware of the video and the FBI is now investigating this traffic stop. The FBI, though, would only confirm that they know about the video. So, Alexis, what happened after that video? So police gave all 14 tribal citations. The two 19-year-olds were booked into the Vista Jail, but never charged. And police just sent the two minors home with family. Earlier today, though, we got an email from the tribal chairman denying our request for the other officer's body-worn video saying there is an ongoing criminal investigation. He's a policeman. Also, from the video, we got this picture that he's the chief. I decided to do some digging and found this picture right here. So I asked Brock the question, is this the same man in all three of these pics? And you can see he pretty much said yes. So now I'm getting real curious. So I find this right here. California Brady List. Oh, I love whose name that is. Now back to this picture. Wait, what? Man arrested, charged with kidnapping and assault in Indio. So we went back to A.I. and asked the question if he was ever convicted. He said no. This was 2023, and it says the D.A. declined charges. Go figure. This is California, you know. And in 2010, he got a DUI while serving as public safety director. So this guy doesn't deserve to be in law enforcement anywhere. Oh, and I ran a background check on this guy through Truthfinder, and it all matches up. Now this is the full body cam. Enjoy. Where are you headed? Back to Escondido. You're headed back to Escondido? Yeah. Okay. Do you have your driver's license, registration, proof of insurance? I need everybody's I.D.s. None of you guys have seatbelts on. I'm not old enough. What's that? I'm not old enough. You don't have an I.D. card? No, I never got that. Okay, I'll just take your name, then. All right. You got your driver's license? That was my first. This is your permit? I have my appointment soon, but yeah. So you don't have a driver's license? Aren't you a state? Yeah, I know you. What's your first name? You don't have a driver's license? You're dead. Oh, well, you know. Come on. All right, man, what are you doing out here? I thought you moved out of state. I just got back from T-Mart. Oh, okay. Here, unlock your door. Don't reach for it. Unlock your door. Don't move. Don't do anything stupid, okay? Is it in park? Put your hands on top of your head. Lean forward. Go ahead and hop out. You're being detained because you don't have a driver's license, okay? Turn around and face the car. Put your hands back here. How old are you? 19. 19? Like I said, you're not under arrest, but you're being detained. You have anything illegal in the car? Are you on probation or parole? You ever been arrested? All right, go ahead and come back here with me. Go ahead and walk straight back here. Put your butt right here on my bumper. Yeah. Give me a second. I'm going to pat you down. Come back here. Yeah, I got you, man. Go back here. Stand over here. You got anything illegal on you? Huh? Nothing? So what is that? That's just your permit? Okay, so you're not supposed to have anybody in the car? Right? Okay, whose car is that? Mine. It's registered to you? Who's the female it's registered to? My mother. Your mom? Okay. So where are you guys headed? Where are you coming from? Uh... Poncel? Okay. So what are you doing? What are you doing? What are you doing up here? Just trying to get back to the city. Put your butt right here. So if you're trying to get back to the city, how did you end up on the res? Because we were coming through there. Through the back. You can come through here and then go through there. Valley Center. You can either go through Lake Wofford or right there. Okay. Is there anything illegal in the car? Not that I know of. Not that you know of? How do you know these guys? Friends. Okay. So my name is Corporal Paul Amaris, okay? I've never met you before. But this is how things work. If you're honest with me, I can work things out with you. If you lie to me and I have to go and find it, things are going to be twice as hard for you. Okay? Is there anything illegal in the car? Like I said, not that I know of. Okay. So because you are the driver, you're responsible for everything that's in that car, okay? For everything? Everything. If it's like a little bit of weed, some s*** like that, I don't care. What else am I going to find? Bro, I've been doing this job a long... You're 19 years old, bro. Yeah. I've been doing this job a long time. Just be straight with me. That's how we're going to play it? Shoot me straight, man. You guys aren't coming from Bonzo, okay? You guys are up here for a reason, okay? Tell me the truth. Be truthful. Be a man, right? You're 19 years old. Be a man. Come on. Tell me. It's going to go a lot at you, bro. Easier? If I find it, I'm going to f*** you over. If you tell me, I'm going to go easy on you. What's in the car? Ammunition, that's all I know. A little bit of ammo? What kind of ammo? Nine? Is there a gun in the car? I'm not sure. Okay. I would have it on my way so you can do it. All right. Cool. I'm going to have you sit in the back of my car. You have the key to the car? It's right here. Hey, just so you know... So you already admitted there's ammo in the car and you're not 21, right? You're 19? So I have probable cause to search your car, but... Pretty sure you have it regardless, right? Yeah. You're not... I could tell your car because you don't have a driver's license. So my mom is going to pick it up? Like I said, if you're going to be honest with me, what else am I going to find beside the ammo? Well, all I know is ammo, that's it. Bro, if I were you, dude, just be upfront, man. You already told us that you got ammo in there, man. If you shoot me straight, look at me, look at me. Shoot me straight. I'm 40 years old, dawg, okay? I'm twice as old as you. If you shoot me straight, I'll be straight up with you and I'll cut you whatever breaks I can. If that's having mom pick up the car so you don't get your s*** impounded for 30 days and it stays in there and you pay all these fees, I'm going to f***ing shoot you straight. Me and Ricky are going to take care of you, but I need you to be honest with me right now. And how are you guys going to approach the car saying that I said... I'm not going to tell them s***. Where's the gun at? Have they carried it? No, I'm not sure, but I just... Pretty sure there is one. Where at? Do you know? Like I said, no, I'm not sure, I'm not going to answer. Okay, all right, have a seat, bro. Like you said, right? Yep. Where's the ammo at in the car? Where is it at? You'll see. Huh? You'll see it. Okay, all right, man, sit down. You're not under arrest, you're just being detained. But like you said, I'm... Hey, let me do my thing, let me do my job, and I promise you, I'm going to shoot you straight. Fair? All right, it's occupied by three d*** sons in the back passenger seat. Let's go and detain all of them. Get the front passenger. Put your hands right here, on top of your head. Don't move, okay, don't do anything stupid. How old are you? 15. You're 15? Yes, sir. Can I put my shirt on? Come here, hop out. What's that? Yeah, yeah, yeah, for sure. You have anything illegal on you? Like a vape pen? Oh, I don't give a s*** about that, bro. Nothing else? You sure? All right, come over here. He's 15. Can you pick up my pants? Yeah, yeah, yeah. You want to pat him down for me, Ricky? Is that better? All right, pat him down. You want to detain him? You move, I'll f***ing kill you. You hear me? Okay, yeah. I'm a minor, by the way. How old are you? 15. Okay, well, you're going to be a dead 15-year-old if you move. What? What did you say? I didn't say nothing. Get on the ground. Get on your f***ing face. Get on your face. Don't f***ing move. Go ahead. Okay, just leave it exactly how you found it. Put it in the back of my car. Lift him up. Hey, all separate cars. Four detained, I got a gun. I pulled him over. It looks like a Glock with an exto mag. Maybe a switch. Ah, I don't know. It's going to be a cluster. Hold on, let me look. It looks like a ghost Glock. It's not full auto. Yep, yep. So let me figure out what I got. Yeah, I mean, but we got like 15-year-olds too. The 15-year-old had a gun on him. Yeah, I got him detained. So far, we haven't searched the car. It was on him. No, no, I just stopped him. Let me call Gene. Okay, okay, all right. Let me call Gene. Y'all come back now, yeah?