The trial is set to begin Tuesday for a man who was shot by police in Deland. Sean Grant, 29, is charged with aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer with a deadly weapon.

Officers shot him after they say he charged them with his vehicle during a shoplifting investigation at the Race Trac on Woodland Boulevard back in October of 2013.

Attorney Mark O’Mara, who is defending Grant, claims the DeLand Police Department destroyed a surveillance tape that was evidence.

DeLand Police Chief William Ridgway says that is not true and that a surveillance tape never existed.  He released the following statement:

CITY OF DeLAND
DeLAND POLICE DEPARTMENT

William E. Ridgway
Chief of Police

Press Release
February 23, 2015
Re: RaceTrac Video
DeLand Case DL 13-7324
Time – 8:45PM

Recent information has been shared with the media alleging that video evidence pertaining to an officer involved shooting was purposely destroyed. The police department fully rejects the allegation and offers the following information:

A video did not exist nor does it exist. Attached, please read correspondence from a RaceTrac Security Manager corroborating this point after the request for the video was made by a police detective;

The allegation was made after a highly respected member of the agency made a human error during a deposition and inadvertently confused two separate shooting incidents that occurred at the same RaceTrac gas station. Once the officer realized the mistake he immediately notified the opposing attorney and made him aware of the mix-up in his recollection;

Another point that needs clarification concerns a conversation between Chief Ridgway and the supervising investigator directly after the shooting. A conversation did occur as should be expected. The supervisor did suggest to the Chief to not become involved in the initial investigative efforts, specifically, to not watch the video (a common expectation is to ask the store for a video. At the time of the comment it wasn’t known the video did not exist). The supervisor’s intended message was for the Chief to lend support to the officers involved and to leave the evidence collection to the investigators;

After the incident, Chief Ridgway received correspondence from Mr. O’Mara complimenting Lt. Pete Moon for the accommodations the lieutenant provided a week after the incident. The lieutenant agreed to meet Mr. O’Mara on a Saturday and provided him with a copy of the arrest affidavit.  The lieutenant and Mr. O’Mara exchanged cell phone numbers which Mr. O’Mara used to call the lieutenant several times during the weekend regarding the police security placed on the defendant. Even though the defendant was under police watch, the lieutenant authorized visits by the defendant’s family. Lieutenant Moon is the supervisory investigator the video tape allegations involve. Mr. O’Mara complimented the lieutenant’s dedication and professionalism.

There is an open criminal case and an open civil case surrounding the incident. This prevents the city from offering other details about this case. Attached, please find the email from the Security Manager and a redacted report filed by one of the investigating detectives; also, please see Mr. O’Mara’s letter.

Hopefully this statement and the documents correct any misrepresentation regarding the non-existent video.