Body camera video reveals how chaplain's jiu jitsu training may have saved officer's life

A chaplain who happened to be riding along with a Durham police officer may have ended up saving his life when that officer was involved in a fight with a suspect. Body and dash camera video obtained exclusively by WRAL Investigates shows the fight, and what came before and after it.

On October 20, Chaplain Scott Wilkos and Durham Police Officer J.T. Rose noticed a car driving at speeds they estimated were greater than 100 mph on U.S. Highway 15-501.

Very shortly after, that car crashed.

The video shows Rose and Wilkos jump out of their car, and Rose immediately approaches the suspect while giving commands.

"Get on the ground! Get on the ground!," Rose yells. "Do it now. Get on the ground. Get on the ground. Face down, get on the ground."

The video shows the suspect — later identified as 35-year-old Demario Holman — did not comply. Instead, the officer’s body camera video shows tall grass, as the two tussle on the ground. Then, the suspect runs, with Rose chasing him.

The video shows quick glimpses of Wilkos coming to the officer’s aid, wrestling the suspect from behind. "The quicker you put your hands behind your back, the quicker we get off of you," Rose tells Holman.

As more officers arrive to the scene near the intersection of 15-501 and Cornwallis Road, Rose and Wilkos recount what happened.

As another officer approaches, he asks Rose: "You alright?"

"No, I’m not," Rose replies.

Rose complains of severe knee pain, while Wilkos, visibly bleeding from his left hand, says that Holman bit him. Holman had a gash on his elbow. First responders said that injury came from the impact of the car crash. He was not wearing a seatbelt.

Posts on Wilkos’s social media show he is not a typical chaplain. He has decades of training in jiu jitsu, training that may have saved Rose’s life.

Emergency chaplains are not employees of DPD, but rather work with first responders to offer care for people in crisis.

While Rose and Wilkos were in the hospital awaiting treatment, another officer interviewed the men about what unfolded.

"The guy was strong," Wilkos says. "He managed to push us off … He came around on Rose and was going across his head."

"Trying to choke?" the officer asks.

"Yeah," Wilkos replies."At that point in time, I thought [Rose] was in real trouble … So at that point I took his back. I came around the top, over under. And when I came around, my hand got to right where his face was and he bit down on me."

"At any point, did you think you were going to lose consciousness?" the officer later asks Rose.

"No," he replies. "Thank God [Wilkos] intervened quickly enough because … he had one arm around my neck; the other arm going for my gun."

In the video, Wilkos revealed to the interviewing officer that the ride-along was a voluntary one. It was how he chose to spend his day, as he marked a special occasion.

"It’s my birthday," Wilkos tells him. "Took my day off of work in order to be in with him and spend time with an officer I’ve been with eight and a half years."

At the scene, officers found two bags of marijuana, white powder and an assault rifle in Holman’s car.

"There was one bullet in the chamber," a responding officer notes while dismantling the weapon.

Holman’s criminal history, which consists primarily of drug charges, dates back to 2005.

In relation to this incident, Holman was charged with several things including assault on a law enforcement officer, assault by strangulation and assault inflicting serious injury.

Rose was clearly thankful that day that his friend had his back.

"Thank you. Thank you," Rose tells Wilkos on the scene, as the two embrace. "I gotta step letting you ride with me," he jokes.

"Hey, you know what?" Wilkos responds. "What better way to celebrate my 52nd birthday."