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Video surfaces of reserve deputy appearing to gloat about shooting into fleeing car
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PORT ALLEN - Three months after a reserve West Baton Rouge Parish Deputy shot into a fleeing car, a video surfaced on a law enforcement training page with him gloating about doing something just like that.
His lawyer, John McLindon said his client, Shawn Pardazi, was referring to a different shooting that occurred in Texas.
In September, the WBRZ Investigative Unit received a tip that Pardazi was involved in a shooting in Texas similar to the one in Port Allen. WBRZ requested public records tied to that shooting: any and all incident reports and videos. A response was sent back showing that no records existed.
McLindon's confirmation about the Texas shooting also came with confirmation that Pardazi was on a federal task force when that shooting happened. He said he was cleared of any wrongdoing in the Texas incident.
Now, renewed questions are being raised after a video surfaced on a website for the New Jersey Office of the State Comptroller.
"In the south, it's the wild wild west... south whatever," Pardazi said. "If you don't believe me run from Georgia State Patrol. They know what I'm talking about. Run from me, somewhere along the chase becomes lu lu lu lu lu lu, pow pow pow pow. I can neither confirm or deny that there is video out there of me doing just that."
This year, the WBRZ Investigative Unit obtained dash cam video from an incident in West Baton Rouge Parish that Pardazi was involved in. That incident led to him firing his weapon at a car that fled after a traffic stop. Pardazi was charged for that shooting more than a year later when the WBRZ Investigative Unit started asking questions about it.
Pardazi was charged with illegal discharge of a firearm and obstruction of justice. The obstruction charge came because he had livestreamed the entire situation on Facebook but the video was deleted.
"As a long-time cop, it bothers me," Longtime law enforcement expert Greg Phares said. "It is obviously in the case we made for Pardazi for the shooting, and it's a piece of evidence."
Phares said he had never seen something like this before where a law enforcement officer appears to gloat about a shooting in a public setting.
Right now, Pardazi's case is scheduled to go before a grand jury. A date has not been scheduled.
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