CHANDLER, Ariz. — Months after her 17-year-old nephew Anthony Cano was shot and killed by a Chandler police officer, Eva Cano believes her family is now being targeted for wanting the officer arrested and prosecuted.
“I feel absolutely targeted. I asked them flat out, 'Did you follow me from City Hall in pulling me over?'” Eva said during a press conference last weekend.
Community activists and Anthony's family gathered outside the Central Court Building on Saturday afternoon to demand that Officer Chase Bebak-Miller's be terminated and criminally prosecuted.
Eva and Marcus say they were pulled over after speaking out during a Chandler City Hall meeting on Feb. 25.
In a police report, Chandler police say they pulled over the vehicle for having a license plate that did not match with Eva's new Chevy Tahoe.
“There was a reason, but it wasn’t how we were pulled over,” said Eva.
Police verified the vehicle was hers and the dealership put plates from her old car onto her new one.
But Eva and her son Marcus are questioning why there were multiple patrol vehicles and officers with weapons drawn.
In a statement to 12 News, Chandler police said the incident was considered "high risk" due to the possibility of the vehicle being stolen.
The full statement from the Chandler Police Department said:
"Chandler officers were not aware of the occupants and stopped the vehicle
for reasons of it possibly being stolen due to displaying a fictitious license plate not registered or connected to the Tahoe. This is the reason a high risk stop was conducted."
In the unedited body camera video from Jan. 2, Bebak-Miller is seen driving behind Cano on his bike with the police lights on. Anthony then gets off the bike and begins to run toward Gazelle Meadows Park.
Police said that Bebak-Miller saw Cano riding his bike across both lanes of traffic and that is when the officer turned on the lights to make a traffic stop. A foot pursuit ensued ending with Bebak-Miller shooting Cano twice from behind; the second shot while the teenager lay face down on the ground.
Police body camera footage shows Cano tossing a gun away from himself during the pursuit. Officer Bebak-Miller can be heard on body camera footage saying he saw Cano drop a gun on the ground before shooting him.
Body camera footage never shows Cano turn and aim the gun at officer Bebak-Miller.
Cano died three weeks later from his injuries.
"Put this officer in jail immediately, file charges, indict and convict," said Unity Collective Leader and West Valley NAACP representative Kenneth Smith. "If you just put him in jail and let him go home, it's not going to work. This was a baby. A young brown baby."
The Maricopa County Attorney's Office is reviewing the case.