Top 10 Creepiest Things Caught on BodyCam Footage
#10: Escaping a Kidnapper
A man named Melvin Porter kidnapped his ex-girlfriend and drove her down the Eastex Freeway in Texas. She asked Porter to pull over at a gas station, so she could use the restroom, which allowed police officers the time to arrive at the station to arrest Porter. When the criminal allegedly reached for a weapon, they opened fire, leading to a shootout. During the tense exchange, one of the police officers manages to attract the attention of the victim and escorts her to safety. The woman is shaken but very appreciative, and she would be OK. Porter was killed in the gunfight.
#9: The Arlington Monster
Police officers get some weird calls. Weird, and terrifying. The creep factor of this video comes not in the visuals, but the audio. As officers sit in their car, they get a report of an unknown creature that is stalking the nearby area. The imagination is certainly spurned when the creature is described. It allegedly stands around eight feet tall and is walking on five legs. The police officers head out into the night to investigate, probably wondering just what in the heck they’re getting themselves into. Luckily, everything turned out OK. It was just a man in an elaborate Halloween costume, and the police joked around and even took photos as a little memento.
#8: Stopping a Radical
This footage seems like any other confrontational arrest. Police hold the suspect on the ground, apply pressure to his back, and slap a pair of handcuffs on him. They proceed to go through his pockets and find three concealed knives. That’s plenty scary enough, but the true horror comes from the story behind the arrest. This man is a bomb maker and prospective terrorist named Khalid Ali. Ali was arrested following an extensive counter-terrorism operation, and he was found to be plotting an attack against the English police and government. He was given three life sentences for the plot and for making Taliban bombs.
#7: Toddler Saved from House Fire
Fires always make for intense footage - especially when it involves children. This body cam is worn by a first responder in Wisconsin, who was providing assistance at a mobile home fire in West Allis. Police race to action and attempt to rescue a three-year-old child that is trapped inside. This makes for white-knuckle viewing, with the raging flames, billowing smoke, and panicked voices of the officers adding a serious sense of unease. Luckily, a firefighter was able to rip apart the window, climb inside, and rescue the child, who’s then given to one of the officers. He was then taken to the hospital and ultimately recovered. It’s a happy ending to an otherwise very unsettling situation.
#6: Wanted Man Finally Arrested
This footage depicts a routine traffic stop conducted by deputies of Oconee County, Georgia. But it’s hiding a sinister secret. The man, giving the name Rais Sekhem, was pulled over for driving on a suspended license. Following his arrest, Sekhem was taken to jail and fingerprinted. It was then that police made a horrifying, and long-awaited, discovery. The fingerprints were matched to one Muhammed Bilal El-Amin, who had been wanted for nearly thirty years. El-Amin shot and killed an 18-year-old back in 1994 and successfully evaded the police until 2022. Aside from the homicide itself, he was also charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution. After nearly three decades, the law finally caught up to El-Amin, and it was all captured on camera.
#5: Sudden Collapse
The leading cause of overdose deaths in 2021, fentanyl is a major contributor to the opioid epidemic. Fifty times more potent than heroin, fentanyl is an extremely powerful drug. This video is taken from the body camera of police officer Scott Crane, who was training Deputy David Faiivae. During an arrest, Deputy Faiivae placed his face close to where he’d been testing bags of fentanyl and methamphetamine. While secondhand contact cannot cause overdose, there’s speculation that he collapsed as a result of accidental ingestion. He lay on the ground as Crane grabbed packets of naloxone to administer to him. This drug is used to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose. Luckily, Faiivae survived.
#4: Hostage Rescue
The following seems like it could’ve been taken straight out of a Hollywood thriller, so exciting and tense is the footage. Police were sent to a house in Greeley, Colorado owing to a restraining order violation. There, they found an active hostage crisis, as the armed suspect was holding several people against their will. After finding a ladder in the backyard, Officer Steve Perkins climbs into an upstairs window, rescuing two children while keeping his gun trained on the door. It makes for pulse-pounding footage, equal parts gripping and frightening. What we don’t see is the conclusion. After further negotiations, two more hostages were safely released, though the suspect took his own life.
#3: The Seattle Zombie Woman
Back in May 2021, a terrifying series of videos took the world by storm. Taking place in Seattle, they depicted a woman in some type of distress. She was loudly howling, and people referred to her as the “zombie woman” owing to her shuffling gait and disturbing appearance. Police were called on the woman, and their interactions with her were captured on body cam. They approach the woman and attempt to calm her down, and she eventually lays on the ground. As the police examine her, they discover what appears to be fake blood and makeup. Turns out, this was all a political stunt to protest the COVID vaccine. For a while there, she had us all going. And we were scared senseless.
#2: The Chris Watts Interview
The case of Christopher Lee Watts is a very famous one. On August 13, 2018, Watts killed his pregnant wife and two children and disposed of their bodies at an oil site. Later that day, police responded to a missing persons report and visited Watts at the family home. Their interactions with Watts were caught on their body cameras, and the footage is chilling. Watts conjures up numerous lies as the police question him and search the house. His suspiciously calm demeanor is also noteworthy, as he doesn’t appear worried and seemingly has an answer to every question. Watts eventually confessed to killing his wife and was arrested. He pled guilty to the homicides and was given five life sentences.
#1: Jordan Turpin Escapes Her House
The Turpin case became international news when it broke in the winter of 2018. David and Louise Turpin kept their thirteen children imprisoned and mostly hidden from the world. They were regularly mistreated and starved, and they suffered from malnutrition and cognitive impairment. They were finally freed after Jordan Turpin managed to escape and call the police. After arriving at the scene, a responding officer spoke with the teenaged Turpin, who didn’t know what the word “medication” was, had a generally limited vocabulary, and showed the deputy a picture of her chained-up siblings. It’s both horrifying and absolutely heartbreaking. Later, police raided the Turpin house and found many notable signs of neglect and filth. Both parents were arrested and sentenced to life in prison.