Man shot by BART police ignored orders, officer testifies

A transit officer said Tuesday that an unarmed man who was fatally shot by another officer at an Oakland train station failed to obey her commands before his death.

Bay Area Rapid Transit Officer Marysol Domenici testified during the fourth day of a hearing to determine whether former BART Officer Johannes Mehserle will stand trial for murder in the death of Oscar Grant.

The 22-year-old Hayward man was shot in the back as he lay face down on the train station platform early New Year’s Day as officers tried to control a group of unruly passengers.

Domenici said Grant and his friends yelled profanities and did not obey her orders to sit down moments before Mehserle fired at Grant.

She said she was fearful when she heard taunts coming from Grant, his friends and passengers on the train.

“People were saying ‘I’m going to get your name and badge number. . . . (Expletive) BART Police, you don’t know anything, you’re just security guards,’ ” Domenici said during testimony in Alameda County Superior Court.

“We’re outnumbered and nobody’s complying with our orders,” she said.

“They were just all over the place. At that point, yeah, you feel for your life and safety.”

Domenici said that at one point, Grant also grabbed her left arm as she tried pushing one of his friends to the ground. Her partner, Tony Pirone, then came over and hit Grant, pushing him to the ground, she said.

Mehserle’s lawyer, Michael Rains, said his client, who has pleaded not guilty, had intended to use his stun gun but accidentally fired his pistol instead.

Rains said Tuesday that Pirone would testify that he heard Mehserle say he was going to use a stun gun moments before shooting Grant.

Pirone is scheduled to testify as early as today.

Pirone and Domenici remain on paid leave.

Their names are both mentioned in a $50-million wrongful death lawsuit filed by Grant’s family in March against the transit agency.

During other testimony Tuesday, BART Officers Jon Woffinden and Emery Knudtson described a tense scene between transit police and passengers shortly before the shooting.

Deputy Dist. Atty. David Stein, however, tried to point out inconsistencies in their testimony, comparing video footage of the shooting with their written police reports.