Witness says cruiser had killed siren

BALTIMORE - A shooting during a home invasion robbery sent a wave of police cars to Brooklyn early Sunday morning. Initial reports suggest the car had on its emergency lights and siren, but at least one witness argues otherwise.

Various spray-painted circles on Patapsco Avenue represent the final seconds of 41-year-old Leondionas Perez's life. One moment he was picking up some food from a convenience store, and the next, witnesses say his body was hurled as high as 30 feet in the air.

"You had a police officer who was responding in an emergency fashion to a report of a shooting. During that response, the officer collided with a pedestrian who made his way in to the roadway and collided with a police car," said Baltimore Police Department spokesman Anthony Guglielmi.

According to the accounts of officials, Perez collided with a car that had its lights on, siren blaring.

"We were able to verify that the lights and sirens were activated at the time the officer was responding," Guglielmi said. "So, we'll obviously wait for additional information. AIU will prepare a formal report, which will be given to the State's Attorney's Office for prosecutorial review."

But, at least one man who witnessed the crash offers a different account of what happened in front of his home on the 900 block of Patapsco.

"They cut the sirens on 8th Street, because they didn't want the sirens going all the way up on Jack Street so that they'd know that they were coming." he said. "Cause there's been shootings for the last three nights up there."

The man said he also has doubts the cars were traveling the speed limit.

"No, they were doing about 90, and I know that for a fact, cause I was sitting on my porch watching the whole thing."

The man asked us to conceal his identity. He said he feared police retaliation.