And deliberately directing the stream into my face.
The recording didn't show every part of my body because the angle was designed to cover the front door.
But it showed enough.
My arm rising.
My head turning.
The sudden water spray.
The handbag falling.
And Cole continuing to squeeze the nozzle after I shouted for him to stop.
Foster entered the picture.
He shouted at his partner.
Then pushed the hose downward.
The recording continued until the officers stopped arguing and the supervisor arrived.
Andrea Mercer watched the video with two investigators and a digital evidence specialist.
Nobody spoke during the first viewing.
When it ended, the specialist confirmed the file's source information and began arranging the necessary preservation and verification work.
Andrea looked toward the screen.
Then asked for the patrol-car recording.
The dash camera provided a different angle.
It showed the officers arriving.
Cole walking toward the garden.
Foster remaining near the cruiser.
And the moment water erupted across my front lawn.
The vehicle's position obstructed some of the interaction, but the recording corroborated the sequence.
Then the investigators examined Foster's body camera.
It had been activated before the officers entered the property.
The audio captured my repeated offers to identify myself.
It captured Cole's dismissive responses.
And it captured the moment Foster shouted for him to stop.
Most importantly, it recorded Cole's first words after seeing the badge.
“Chief, I didn't know.”
Andrea replayed that sentence.
Then continued watching.
Cole's next statement was even more revealing.
“If I'd known who you were, this wouldn't have happened.”
The investigator paused.
She looked toward her colleague.
Then wrote something in her notebook.
The issue wasn't simply that Cole had mistaken a senior police official for a resident.
It was that he appeared to acknowledge his behavior would have been different if he'd known I held authority over him.
That admission didn't automatically establish every element of a criminal offense.
But it was relevant to understanding his decision-making.
Investigators also reviewed whether his statements and actions reflected discriminatory treatment.
They examined the entire interaction rather than drawing conclusions from one sentence.
And the more they examined, the more difficult Cole's explanation became.