On February 8, 2016, WDAZ aired a news story with video of the David Elliott pursuit and shooting that took place on February 27-28, 2015.
The news report contained a patently and provably false statement.
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During a voice narrative featuring video of a high speed chase, the reporter said, “Abut an hour later a second pursuit begins when Elliott re-enters the city,” WDAZ reported.
That is a patently false statement that misled the public.
Factually - the pursuit was ongoing the entire time and there was no “second pursuit” as reported by WDAZ.
During the first press conference following the pursuit and shooting, a news reporter (believed by this writer to be Steve Wagner of The Herald) said, “Well you said multiple counties, so this thing went out of town and back into town.”
UND Police Chief Eric Plummer responded, “Yes, that’s our knowledge yes. It was initially initiated outside of our county, ended up coming within Grand Forks County, within the City and outside of the City, so yes.”
The aforementioned exchange can be heard on the You Tube video below enitled 'Police shoot unarmed man in front of hospital.' The applicable portion begins at 6:08.
Additionally - the WDAZ news report never once mentioned the fact David Elliott called 911 the night police began to stalk him. It appears Elliott was on the telephone with 911 during much or all of the pursuit.
The news report contained another bizarre anonoly that shows deviation from the original story regarding the night in question.
"It started around 11 p.m. Friday February 27th when Grand Forks police tried to pull over a suspicious vehicle. Instead the driver of the vehicle, David Elliot, took off at speeds of more than 60 miles per hour thru a residential neighborhood," WDAZ reported.
The statment referring to 11 p.m. as a start time is accompanied by exciting video of a high speed chase.
But something is wrong.
On March 3, 2015, KNOX reported, "On Friday, February 27, 2015 at approximately 10:41 p.m. officers from the Grand Forks Police Department responded to a suspicious vehicle call in the parking lot of Wells Fargo Bank located on S. Columbia Rd. After the officers arrived; the operator of the suspect vehicle, later identified as David Elliott, left the area and failed to stop for officers after they had also witnessed a traffic violation committed by this operator."
That places almost twenty minutes of time and activity between David Elliott and the police that is not accounted for by WDAZ or any other news agency. The reason Elliott was driving over 100 mph and trying to get away may be something that took place between him and the police during those twenty minutes.
The police did not release any video involving those twenty minutes and no 911 records were released whatsoever.
Only all the public records will show what was really going on.
The release of the video appears to have been prompted by the GoFundMe erected by Timothy Charles Holmseth (me); an investigative journalist seeking all the public records surrounding the entire night.
Holmseth was forced to turn to the public for assistance after the GFPD made obtaining the public records too expensive.
You can visit Timothy Holmseth’s GoFundMe to view two videos that show what REALLY HAPPENED and why the public needs to see all the records regarding the night in question.
READ Holmseth's letter to GFPD Chief of Police Mark Nelson.
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| GFPD Chief Mark Nelson |