Jhamal Gonsalves is a Rhode Island moped driver who was left in critical condition when a police officer may have crashed into him in Providence.
A Providence Police officer is on administrative leave after a pursuit left a young man seriously injured. Rhode Island’s Attorney General is now involved in the investigation, surrounding the circumstances that led to the crash.
Jhamal Gonsalves Moped Crash Video
Breonna Rozayy posted a cell phone video of the police moped crash on Facebook on October 19. You can watch it here on her page.
“Providence Police Department needs to be stopped !! This is really CRAZY THEY INTENTIONALLY HIT THIS MAN AND YOU CAN SEE IT CLEAR AS DAY!” she wrote. You can watch the video above and decide for yourself.
The video shows the squad trailing the moped, which then turns. You briefly can’t see what’s happening, but the squad then slams into the moped. “Too bad you turned your camera away at the most critical moment,” one person wrote on the thread of the video, which has been shared thousands of times.
Fiance’s Statement
Gonsalves’ fiancé, Kendra Thibault, told 12 News that he loved Motorcross and added, “He’s a ball of energy. He always has to be doing something, being active. This is literally what he loved.”
Career
According to his Facebook page, Gonsalves is a “yacht painter/motocross racer” who went to Rogers High School in Newport, Rhode Island. His cover picture is of a bike.
His most recent visible post, from March, reads, “…getting my new headers and traction bar laced up last night getting me ready for this retune??????dudes been my mechanic since day 1 always a+ work anybody need work done contact him full swaps/welding anything u can think off dude gets it done ????.”
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Most of his posts deal with motocross racing or motorbikes. He also posted a picture of him working on a yacht. “Shipyard took this pic last summer when I had to do touch-ups on this 200ft yacht,” he wrote, adding, “finished the street bike I’m a free man after tomorrow let’s rip ASAP.”
Investigation
“We had a terrible incident last night where a young man was seriously injured and is in the hospital… we hope he makes a speedy recovery,” Providence Mayor Jorge Elorza said in a news conference.
He said authorities are trying to “reconstruct exactly what happened yesterday.” He said they have committed a transparent and complete investigation. WPRI reported that Gonsalves is in a coma “suffering from severe swelling to the head and internal bleeding.” The attorney general also said authorities are still investigating what happened and can’t “draw any legal conclusions” yet.
Police said they weren’t sure yet whether the police cruiser struck the moped. “That will be a major focus of the investigation,” Providence Police Chief Col. Hugh Clements said in the news conference.
GoFundMe Page
There is a GoFundMe page to help Gonsalves that has raised more than $14,000. “Jhamal Gonsalves was slammed off his moped Sunday night by a police officer in his SUV cruiser into a wall. Jhamal has a long road ahead of him in terms of recovery,” the friend who created it wrote.
