Cop Fabricated Story About Being 'Carjacked by Two Black Men' — After He Accidentally Shot Himself
Earlier this month, a sheriff's office in Florida announced the termination of a former officer who faked a racist carjacking and subsequent shooting to camouflage his own inability to handle a firearm responsibly.
Dakotah Wood, 21, previously employed with the Hernando County Sheriff’s Office (HCSO), has been hit with a plethora of charges, including tampering with physical evidence, false reports of crimes, and discharging a firearm in public or residential property.
On June 30, 2023, deputies responded to an alleged carjacking and shooting in Weeki Wachee Gardens, where they found Wood nursing a gunshot wound to the leg. He initially spun a tale of unknown men, who he claimed were Black, attempting to steal his vehicle. According to Wood, they threatened his life and shot him in the thigh before fleeing the scene.
As the narrative unfolded, however, inconsistencies became evident. Wood later admitted to detectives that the elaborate story was a fabrication, crafted in a desperate attempt to avoid repercussions for his own reckless behavior. He confessed to shooting himself accidentally while "playing" with his gun, alone in the park, distraught over relationship issues with his girlfriend.
Despite Hernando County Sheriff Al Nienhuis describing such situations as "relatively rare," it's important to underline the frequency with which such occurrences truly happen. It's not an isolated incident or a one-off mistake by an errant officer. It speaks volumes about a systemic issue, showing a disturbing trend within law enforcement: the fabrication of crimes to cover up their own inadequacies.
A 2016 study by the National Registry of Exonerations found that police officers and prosecutors often contribute to wrongful convictions by manufacturing crimes. The fabricated story of Wood falls into the same troubling pattern, marking another instance of the gross misuse of power within law enforcement.
What's more concerning is the damaging impact such false narratives have on community relations and the perception of marginalized racial groups. When a figure of authority, such as a law enforcement officer, propagates false stereotypes, it fuels the fire of racial bias and reinforces the cycle of prejudice and injustice.
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Wood was released on a $7,000 bond on July 1, but the consequences of his actions will reverberate beyond his personal life, further eroding the public's trust in law enforcement.
As mentioned above, cops faking shootings or attacks on themselves is a common theme.
In 2019, citizens of Virginia and the rest of the country were shocked as headlines across the internet reported that a Fauquier County Sheriff’s Deputy was found unconscious on the roadside after being attacked by people driving a black SUV. The blue line supporters came out in full force driving home the narrative that there is a war on cops. However, after police began investigating the incident, they quickly found out that no attack ever happened.
Apparently, Fauquier County Sheriff’s Deputy Jake Preston Dooley, 22, went so far as to hit himself in the head to fake the attack and was even hospitalized. Amazingly enough, it only took the department 24 hours to realize Dooley was lying. Sheriff Mosier then thanked the community for their outrage at the cop's fake attack and noted how horrible it made them feel.
In January 2020, TFTP reported on the fabricated story of how Los Angeles Sheriff's Deputy Angel Reinosa was shot in the shoulder by a sniper as he walked from his patrol car into the station. A massive manhunt ensued as heavily armed deputies in military attire set up a perimeter and locked down the area, but it would all be in vain. Reinosa was arrested because he made the entire thing up.
Less than a week later, another cop in Ohio was arrested for doing the exact same thing! On January 13, approximately 50 officers from ten different departments combed a prominently black neighborhood looking for a non-existent suspect. This swarm of cops was reportedly detaining innocent people, pulling over others, and shaking up an entire community. All of this chaos and rights violations were because Warren Police Officer Noah Linnen falsely claimed he'd been involved in a shootout with a black man in a black SUV.
Apparently, the "black SUV" is the go-to vehicle for cops faking attacks on themselves.
TFTP has reported on dozens of these instances over the years in which cities were locked down and massive manhunts violated the rights of innocent citizens — all because of cops faking attacks. What's that saying about the boy who cried wolf?
