Former Brazoria Co. deputy indicted for shooting death of John Mendoza Jr.

BRAZORIA COUNTY, Texas - The former Brazoria County deputy who was fired following the shooting death of 18-year-old John Mendoza Jr. has been indicted.

According to records, former Brazoria County Deputy Kevin Tippit has been charged with aggravated assault by a peace officer with a deadly weapon. This is a first degree felony that allows for a reckless culpable mental state.

Tippit was booked and arrested by the Texas Rangers on Tuesday. His bond has been set at $250,000.

Lake Jackson teen shot and killed

The backstory:

According to the sheriff’s office, just after midnight on June 1, Deputy Tippit tried to pull over John Mendoza Jr. near FM 2004. There were other teens reportedly in the car at the time.

Authorities say Mendoza kept driving and eventually stopped inside his garage at a home on Indian Warrior Trail. Following an encounter, the deputy fired his gun, shooting Mendoza. He later died at the hospital.

FOX 26 obtained dispatch audio from the night of the incident, which includes the words "accidental discharge."

Search warrant revealed new details

Dig deeper:

An affidavit released in July stated that around 12:50 a.m. on June 1, investigators had learned of an officer-involved shooting on Indian Warrior Trail in Lake Jackson involving a Brazoria County Sheriff's Office Deputy. 

According to the affidavit, after reviewing Tippit's body camera, Tippit was parked on Oyster Creek Drive, north of FM 2004, and his unit was facing south. 

Authorities said they observed from the dash camera video that at approximately 12:06 a.m., a red Dodge Challenger turned westbound and accelerated onto FM 2004 from Oyster Creek Drive in Richwood, Texas, in a manner that caused the rear of the vehicle to lose traction with the road, which resulted in the vehicle's rear sliding right then left before recovering. 

It was further observed that Tippit reacted to the Red Dodge Challenger entering FM 2004 by driving his patrol unit behind the Red Dodge Challenger.

The affidavit stated that Tippit caught up to the Dodge Challenger on FM 2004, east of Yaupon Street in Lake Jackson. It was also seen that Tippit had not turned on his lights at this point. 

The document goes on to claim the dash camera video showed that once Tippit caught up to the Dodge Challenger, the Red Dodge Challenger accelerated excessively beyond the posted 50 mile per hour speed limit sign, which resulted in Tippit activating his emergency lights and siren in an effort to stop the Dodge Challenger. 

Dash camera video also showed that the Dodge Challenger continued to disregard Tippit, reaching speeds of 120 miles per hour. The affidavit stated the video showed  the Red Dodge Challenger disregarded six red traffic lights before arriving on Indian Warrior Trail. 

The affidavit said that body-worn camera and patrol unit's dash camera, as the Dodge Challenger pulled into the driveway, the home's 2-car garage door opened, the Challenger pulled inside the garage, and the garage door began to shut.

According to court records, the body-worn camera video showed Tippit entered the garage through the open door and approached the driver's door of the Red Dodge Challenger. As Tippit approached the driver's door, Tippit pulled his pistol and discharged it into the passenger compartment of the vehicle through the driver's door window, documents state.

Body-worn camera video showed that Tippet opened the Challenger driver's door and learned that the driver, Mendoza Jr., was struck by the bullet, the affidavit said. 

Documents state that body-worn camera video caught Tippit notifying the Brazoria County Sheriff's Office dispatch via his portable radio that he had an accidental discharge and had one male bleeding. 

The affidavit said, "affiant knows through training, experience, and Deputy Tippit's firearm just going off, that Deputy Tippit was referring to his firearm going off when he reported accidental discharge."

As a result, a search warrant was requested for the firearm to determine that the firearm was properly functioning.