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WBRZ Investigative Unit: New video shows BRPD officer was on cell phone before slamming into cyclist, family reacts

BATON ROUGE - A mother was overcome with emotion Thursday while reliving one of the scariest moments of her life. 

It was the first time that Debbie Washington got a clear picture of what happened the night her son, Dwayne Washington, was hit by Baton Rouge Police Officer Stefon Jones. 

The WBRZ Investigative Unit obtained footage from Jones' body-worn camera through a public records request. The first version was completely blurred by BRPD, but after getting our legal team involved, the department agreed to give us the un-redacted version.

The 10-minute video shows Jones responding to a call. As he's driving over 80 mph on Louise Street, he hits Dwayne Washington, who was riding his bike.

"I know I was coming down the street and all of a sudden, all of a sudden I just blanked out," Dwayne said.

Dwayne suffered multiple shattered bones, a brain bleed and had to stay in the hospital for four months.

"Police officers are supposed to serve and protect, so by him being hit like that by a police officer, that really made me very angry," Debbie Washington said.

Internal investigators cleared Jones of any wrongdoing. He did not receive any discipline from the department.

"I'm angry, mad, disappointed,” she said.

While it was determined that Jones, who had his lights activated, had the green light, the officer's body camera shows that he was looking up something on his phone right before the crash. And after Jones exits the patrol car, the voice of a woman he was on the phone with can be heard.

"He's driving that fast, 80-something miles on his phone. There is no excuse for that,” Debbie Washington said.

In the video, Jones stays with Dwayne until more help arrives. He pleads with him to keep breathing.

“Stay with me, bro. Please keep breathing,” Jones said. “You gotta fight.”

Dwayne's mother, Debbie, was overcome with emotion after watching the video for the first time.

"Tonight, before I go to bed, I'm going to get on my knees, and I'm going to thank Him. I'm going to thank Him for letting DeeDee stay here."

However, she says after seeing the video, it's clearer than ever to her that Jones should have been disciplined by his superiors. 

"The way how they taking up for him, not disciplining him and not putting him in the wrong, they're wrong for that."

Dwayne, who has to deal with the consequences of the wreck every day, had one piece of advice for Officer Jones.

"Drive careful."

Jones is currently suspended for an incident the WBRZ Investigative Unit highlighted at the end of January, where he was caught on camera allegedly brushing his hand against a woman's backside.

He has a hearing next week where Chief TJ Morse will decide if he should be fired.

As for why Jones was not disciplined for hitting Dwayne, Morse says the investigation determined he was not distracted by the cell phone and was looking up the location for the call he was responding to.

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