Dash Cam Video Released of '09 Shootout

June 16, 2011
Guilford County Cpl. Wes Mecham was attempting to arrest Daniel Roy Smith when he grabbed his gun and began firing at a traffic stop on Aug. 29, 2009.

GREENSBORO, N.C. --

Sheriff B.J. Barnes released video on Wednesday showing an exchange of gunfire between a deputy and a wanted man in Pleasant Garden in August 2009.

The deputy wasn't injured during the exchange of gunfire, but Daniel Roy Smith, 57, of Winston-Salem, was shot four times.

At the time of the shooting, Smith had escaped from a halfway house, where he was serving a federal bank robbery sentence.

The deputy, Cpl. Wes Mecham, spotted Smith and was attempting to arrest him when Smith grabbed Mecham's gun and fired it at the officer.

Mecham returned fire, striking Smith in the chest. Smith survived the shooting.

The video shows Mecham talking to Smith shortly before the incident.

"Aren't you supposed to be at a halfway house? Do you know anything about that?" Mecham is seen asking Smith.

The two then struggle off camera, and several gunshots are heard before Smith is seen staggering and falling in front of Mecham's vehicle.

"Man. You think I'm playing? I will drop you again. Get your left hand where I can see it," Mecham yelled.

During a news conference on Wednesday afternoon, Mecham thanked God for keeping him safe during the ordeal.

"I'm going to say he may have been a bad shot, but I'd like to definitely say God helped me out in that," Mecham said. "I didn't know that I had not been hit. I didn't feel like I had because nothing hurt, and that was all I had to go on."

Smith was sentenced to up to 32 years in prison on Tuesday for his role in the shooting. He has served jail time for bank robbery and other crimes involving guns and assault prior to the shooting conviction.

On his criminal history, Smith has 24 alias names, seven different birth dates and three Social Security numbers -- none of which are his, Barnes said shortly after the shooting.

Barnes said Smith will be released from federal prison when he is 85-years-old and will begin serving the 32-year sentence at that time.

Copyright 2011 by WXII12.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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