A police bodycam released after an early-morning robbery shows a chaotic scene where an officer is dragged into a getaway car and taken during a frantic escape attempt in Antioch, California. The footage captures the crash into a grocery, a tense exchange between officer and driver, and the aftermath that led to criminal charges against the suspect.
At about 5:15 a.m. on Feb. 20, a vehicle smashed into a FoodMaxx and three suspects rushed inside for an alleged armed robbery. Officers arrived roughly three minutes later as employees reported that one of the men was armed and threatening staff. The scene was fast-moving and dangerous from the start.
When officers confronted the suspects, one of the fleeing vehicles struck an occupied police cruiser and was approached by the responding officers. An officer lunged at the car as it reversed back toward the store, tumbled into the passenger side, and the door nearly closed behind him. In the next surreal instant the driver drove off with the officer still inside the vehicle.
Bodycam audio inside the car documents the exchange in stark, clipped lines that make the tension immediate and raw. “Stop the car!” the officer says. “Get out the car, bro!” the driver yells. “Stop the car!” the officer repeats. “Get out!” the driver yells. “Stop the car!” the officer yells. Moments later the driver yells, “I’m going to crash this motherf**king car! I ain’t going to jail!”
Authorities identified the driver as 23-year-old Dominick DeSouza, who police say was driving erratically and ignoring commands. According to the account from officers, DeSouza told the officer to jump out but refused to slow the car. The officer then warned he would use his weapon if the vehicle did not stop, and when DeSouza continued, the officer fired.
DeSouza was struck in the leg, cried out, and crashed the car shortly after the shot. He abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot into nearby vegetation. Within about ten minutes, additional officers located him hiding in bushes with a gunshot wound to his leg and took him into custody, after which he was transported to a hospital with injuries described as non-life-threatening.
Officer Travis Donaldson, the man pulled into the getaway car, suffered minor injuries during the incident. Medical attention was provided and he was able to talk with officers and investigators afterward. The bodycam footage and collision damage are now part of a larger case file being reviewed as the investigation continues.
The Contra Costa County District Attorney’s Office filed multiple charges against DeSouza, including kidnapping, robbery, assault with a deadly weapon upon a peace officer, two counts of burglary, grand theft, and unlawful driving or taking of a vehicle. Those charges reflect both the alleged robbery inside the store and the dangerous interaction that followed with responding officers. Prosecutors will now decide how to move the case forward based on the available evidence.
The full nine minutes of bodycam footage from the incident are publicly available for review on the Antioch city channel and show the sequence from the crash to the capture.
