Sheriff’s office releases videos of fatal shooting involving deputy
- Elizabeth Larson
- Posted On
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – On Friday, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office released videos from a Dec. 28 incident in which a deputy shot and killed a Lower Lake man during a fight.
On the night of Dec. 28, Deputy Wesley Besgrove shot 34-year-old Craig Ellis See as the two struggled in a creekbed behind the Dollar General store in Clearlake Oaks.
The shooting occurred at approximately 9:50 p.m., following a physical fight that lasted several minutes, authorities said.
Sheriff Brian Martin released two videos on Friday. One is a nearly 11-minute-long critical incident debrief, shown above, in which Martin introduces and explains the circumstances that led to the shooting.
That critical incident debrief video also has subtitles for the sometimes muffled words spoken or shouted during the incident.
The second video, posted below, runs 29 minutes and includes both mobile audio visual camera footage from inside Besgrove’s patrol vehicle as well as his body worn camera, which fell off during the foot pursuit but recorded audio from the deadly encounter.
The audio indicates that Besgrove shot his service weapon five times. Authorities have so far not reported how many times See was struck.
Both videos include language and audio that may be disturbing to some listeners.
Videos document deadly confrontation
Martin said that Besgrove had been patrolling Clearlake Oaks on the night of the shooting when he spotted See riding his bicycle down Highway 20 and into the Dollar General parking lot.
Two weeks prior to the shooting, Martin said Besgrove had investigated a report that See had shot a person in the foot.
The victim in that case had positively identified See as the suspect and Martin said Besgrove had submitted a report to the District Attorney’s Office. However, during that time he hadn’t been able to locate See.
The video begins with Besgrove getting into his patrol vehicle, which is parked along Highway 20 behind another vehicle after an apparent vehicle stop, facing west. A bicyclist rides by, wearing a headlamp but with no other lights on the bike.
After the vehicle in front of him leaves Besgrove pulls onto Highway 20 and does a u-turn, heading east, following the bicyclist, who had moved into the center lane of the highway before turning off the road and wheeling his bicycle across a sidewalk and then the grass in front of the Dollar General store.
Besgrove pulls into the store parking lots, parks his car facing the bicyclist, and exits the vehicle.
“How you doin’, man?” Besgrove is heard to say as he gets out of his vehicle and walks in front of the car and out of view toward See.
The video then changes to the body worn camera. It also shows Besgrove arriving at the scene and approaching See, who lays his bike down in the grass near the store’s front door. See is wearing blue jeans, a black hoodie, gray knit cap and a gray jacket.
Besgrove told See that he was speaking to him because he didn’t have proper lights and reflective equipment on the bicycle. See said there was a light on the bike.
Besgrove then asked See if he had his identification card on him. See said he didn’t, and then gave Besgrove a false name, said he was not on probation or parole, and also gave a false date of birth.
See asked Besgrove if he could go buy a pack of cigarettes. “Not right now,” Besgrove said.
Besgrove asked See to turn around and put his hands behind his head so he could do a pat-search because, according to Sheriff Martin, the deputy had seen what appeared to be a dirk or dagger concealed in See’s waistband. The video shows what appears to be a knife sheath on See’s left hip.
See raised his hands and started to turn around and then begins to run down the sidewalk, with Besgrove radioing dispatch and giving chase, shouting, “Stop now! Stop now!”
Martin said that the foot pursuit led around the building and into a creekbed. As he was running, Besgrove’s camera fell off and landed in tall grass, but it continued to record audio of the fight.
“As the deputy caught up to See in the creekbed, he felt a popping sensation in his knee,” Martin said. Besgrove would later find out his leg was broken.
Much of the video is black, but the two men can be heard struggling.
“Stay the f*** down! Keep your hands where I can see them, you understand me?” Besgrove shouted at See.
Besgrove told See that if he didn’t let go of Besgrove’s hand he was going to get socked.
“Please, just let me go, dude,” See said.
Martin said that See violently fought Besgrove, grabbing his arm and repeatedly biting him.
Besgrove used his pepper spray on See, but it didn’t have an effect on him and instead went back into Besgrove’s eyes, Martin said.
See then began to gouge Besgrove’s eyes, and the two struggled down a small hill, with See landing on top of Besgrove, according to Martin.
Martin said See headbutted Deputy Besgrove twice; the second time, it caused Besgrove’s vision and orientation to distort momentarily but he recovered.
At some point during the fight, Martin said See armed himself with the knife. Just before the five-minute mark in the 29-minute video, Besgrove begins yelling at See repeatedly to drop the knife.
See told him to let him go, Besgrove told him he wouldn’t let him go unless he dropped the knife.
Martin said See tried to stab Besgrove, who grabbed ahold of the knife as they both struggled for control of it.
With both hands on the knife, Besgrove felt pressure on his holstered service weapon. Martin said Besgrove believed See was trying to take his weapon away and then realized See was trying to unholster it.
In the audio, See can be heard saying, “You’re a punk (unintelligible) dude … I, I (unintelligible).” Based on the video, those are the last words he uttered.
Martin said that Besgrove, fearing for his life, removed his weapon and shot See several times.
Three gunshots are heard in rapid succession, with See screaming after the third. Besgrove then shoots twice more. The shooting begins at the 5:41 minute mark in the longer video, and at 8:47 in the shorter critical incident update video.
After the shooting, Besgrove radios, “Central 455, shots fired, shots fired. Suspect down.”
Besgrove then shouts at See, “Arms out! Arms out! Put your arms out at your side, now!”
Besgrove continued to tell See to put his hands out. He then radios to Central Dispatch that See had a knife and he wasn’t sure if he still had it. It also sounded as if Besgrove reported that he wasn’t injured.
However, Martin said that Besgrove was injured and that, due to his injuries, he was unable to render aid to See or place him in handcuffs.
At 9:55 p.m., according to Central Dispatch radio traffic, a dispatcher had called Besgrove several times, asking for his location.
When Besgrove responded a few minutes later, he reported that he was holding See at gunpoint. He asked for medical personnel and additional deputies to respond to his location in the creekbed.
See can still be heard groaning and breathing as Besgrove radios his location to Central Dispatch and asks for a Code 3 response – which means lights and sirens – to his location.
In the audio, there are about eight audible breathing sounds coming from See shortly after he was shot. They slow and cease just before the 6:30 minute mark in the full video. Besgrove continues to tell See not to move.
Just before the eight-minute mark, Besgrove reports to Central Dispatch that See is armed with a knife, although he was not sure if he still had it.
Sirens are first heard at about the 8:30 minute mark, as Besgrove tells See to keep his arms where he can see him.
At the 9:11 minute mark, Besgrove says there are possible crossfire issues as deputies approach Highway 20, and that he was trying to change his position.
At about the 9:40 minute mark, Besgrove calls out, “Lou!” to an arriving deputy.
“DId you shoot?” the other deputy asks.
Besgrove said yes. The second deputy radios to report shots were fired.
Other deputies then begin to arrive. Besgrove tells them he grabbed See’s knife and he’s not sure if his hand is cut.
One of the arriving deputies begins to order that medics respond.
“Were you facing him when all of this happened?” the other deputy asks.
“We were literally fighting, right over here,” said Besgrove, who added that his eyes hurt.
Other deputies’ flashlights begin to illuminate the grass around Besgrove’s camera at that point in the video.
One deputy orders others to go get crime scene tape.
Besgrove said his camera was in the creekbed. “I’m not worried about your camera,” the other deputy responded.
The lead deputy at the scene began to direct other deputies to start a crime scene log, to retrieve his cell phone from his vehicle and make notifications. Other approaching sirens can be heard in the background.
At about the 18:40 mark, another deputy starts yelling obscenities and said he hurt his knee.
A fixed-blade knife was recovered at the scene, Martin said.
Besgrove was transported to the hospital for treatment. Martin said Besgrove sustained a broken leg, a laceration to one of his fingers, several bite marks and other injuries.
See was declared dead at the scene, Martin said.
Sheriff’s office, District Attorney’s Office continue separate investigations
Martin said the sheriff’s office conducts very thorough use of force investigations, which require investigators to interview multiple witnesses, view numerous hours of video footage and analyze a significant amount of forensic evidence.
“These investigations can often take up to a year to complete, and our understanding of this incident may change as evidence is collected, analyzed and reviewed,” said Martin.
He said they don’t draw any conclusions about whether the deputy acted consistently with department policies and the law until all the facts are known and the investigation is complete.
Martin said that in Lake County, incidents involving the use of deadly force or in which a civilian or deputy suffers great bodily injury are investigated separately by the District Attorney’s Office.
“This is done to ensure that the investigation is, in fact, impartial,” he said.
District Attorney Susan Krones told Lake County News on Friday that she didn’t have an update on her investigation’s progress or a timeline yet for when it might be complete.
She said she and her investigator are waiting for a lot of forensic evidence to come back in the case.
Krones said See’s autopsy has been completed, but authorities have not released results from that yet.
“I would like to get it done as soon as possible,” Krones said of the investigation.
The sheriff’s office said Besgrove, who has been a patrol deputy with the sheriff’s office for one year following three years in corrections, was placed on administrative leave after the shooting. That is standard protocol in incidents when a weapon is discharged.
The sheriff’s office reported that, before the shooting, it had minimal contact with See for theft and trespass issues, in addition to his being identified as the suspect in the shooting case earlier in December.
See also had a 2018 felony domestic violence case, with an added misdemeanor charge of stalking from 2019, filed against him for incidents in Clearlake, based on court documents.
Rob Brown, a county supervisor who also owns a bail bonds business, confirmed to Lake County News that See had failed to appear in court on the case over the summer and so he had been looking for him because he had jumped bail.
Records released in accordance with state law
To maintain transparency and community trust, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office said it has developed a way to disseminate records for public inspection in qualifying cases in accordance with state laws SB 1421 and AB 748, both of which went into effect in September 2018 after being approved by then-Gov. Jerry Brown.
Lt. Rich Ward said members of the public can find a list of documents, videos, photographs and other information by navigating to the “Use of Force” page on the Lake County Sheriff’s website.
The newly created “Use of Force” tab can be found at the top of http://www.lakesheriff.com/ ; from there, users will be redirected to http://www.lakesheriff.com/resources/UseOfForce.htm.
Ward said additional materials in the case will be released as they become available.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.
Below are the radio traffic audio recordings for the shooting incident on the night of Dec. 28. On the first audio recording, the incident doesn’t begin until 20 minutes into the recording. The second recording continues the incident traffic.