Search fatalities

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
License plates that did not match the vehicle. At approximately 3:16 a.m. on 08/01/2021, New Richmond Police Department officers attempted to stop a 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix driven by 20-year-old Logan Zappa after determining that the license plates displayed on the Pontiac did not belong to that vehicle. Zappa continued driving away on County Highway T and police pursued.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/01/2021, 20-year-old Logan Zappa of Deer Park was critically injured when his Pontiac Grand Prix crashed into a pickup truck after a New Richmond Police Department pursuit in the Town of Stanton. Zappa survived for nearly two weeks before dying from his injuries on 08/14/2021. Because the database records the date of death, the correct Date field is 08/14/2021.
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The encounter began at approximately 3:16 a.m. when New Richmond police attempted to stop Zappa because the license plates displayed on his 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix did not match the vehicle. The initiating reason therefore was an equipment/registration violation rather than a violent crime, warrant or reported stolen vehicle.
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Zappa continued driving away on County Highway T while New Richmond officers pursued. The pursuit continued north through rural St. Croix County toward 200th Avenue.
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New Richmond police then discontinued the pursuit near 200th Avenue. This is an important part of the chronology: officers did not continue chasing Zappa all the way to the fatal collision. After police terminated the pursuit, Zappa continued north on County Highway T for approximately another 2½ miles.
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At the intersection of County Highway T and County Highway H, authorities said Zappa entered the intersection without stopping at the stop sign. A pickup truck traveling on County Highway H struck the driver's side of the Pontiac.
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Zappa was trapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated. Emergency personnel transported him to Regions Hospital in St. Paul with serious injuries. The pickup driver was treated at the crash scene and released.
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No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact is identified in the available reporting. The fatal collision occurred approximately 2½ miles after New Richmond police discontinued their pursuit. The available reports do not provide a measured maximum pursuit speed, exact pursuit duration, the distance between Zappa and police when the pursuit was terminated, or the specific reason officers decided to discontinue it.
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Zappa remained hospitalized at Regions Hospital following the August 1 crash. The St. Croix County Sheriff's Office subsequently announced that he died from his injuries on Saturday, August 14. He was 20 years old and lived in Deer Park, Wisconsin.
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The available public reporting provides little information about Zappa's life beyond identifying him as a young Deer Park resident. No reliable obituary or family account located for this reconstruction provides enough additional biographical information to add without speculation.
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The St. Croix County Sheriff's Office investigated the collision because it occurred outside New Richmond's jurisdiction. The crash investigation therefore was separate from the New Richmond Police Department's decision to initiate and subsequently terminate the pursuit.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The New Richmond Police Department officer or officers who attempted to stop Logan Zappa and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the contemporary and follow-up reporting located for this reconstruction.

https://www.twincities.com/2021/08/17/wisconsin-man-dies-two-weeks-after-car-crash-during-police-chase-officials-say/

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/driver-who-crashed-in-wisconsins-st-croix-county-aug-1-dies-of-injuries/

On 08/13/2021, 27-year-old Mauricio Luna was killed when Knoxville Police Department Officer Cody Klingmann crashed his police cruiser into Luna's vehicle on Kingston Pike near Papermill Drive while Klingmann was responding to a reported burglary in progress. This was not a police pursuit; Luna was an uninvolved motorist and was not being stopped, followed or pursued by police.
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At approximately 3:00 a.m., KPD officers were dispatched to a reported burglary in progress at a business in the 4800 block of Kingston Pike. Klingmann was driving eastbound on Kingston Pike toward the call when Luna pulled onto Kingston Pike. The vehicles collided. Luna was pronounced dead at the scene. Klingmann suffered minor injuries and was transported to a hospital.
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Later evidence substantially changed the picture provided by the initial police account. Luna's family alleged that Klingmann was driving as fast as 90 mph on Kingston Pike without properly activating his emergency lights. Court filings stated that Klingmann was traveling approximately 81 mph at the moment of impact. The posted speed limit was 45 mph.
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The Tennessee Highway Patrol investigated the collision and determined that Klingmann was not wearing his seat belt. The family's lawsuit also alleged that Klingmann failed to maintain control of his cruiser and failed to maintain a proper lookout before striking Luna's vehicle.
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Luna's death had a particularly ordinary and tragic context. He and his dog were traveling to Florida to visit his girlfriend when the collision occurred. The dog was also killed. Luna's mother, Claudia Macias, subsequently pursued accountability through a wrongful-death action against Klingmann and the City of Knoxville.
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Macias sought $3 million in damages. The lawsuit alleged that Klingmann's excessive speed and failure to properly use emergency lights caused the collision and that the City of Knoxville was negligent in allowing him to operate the police cruiser because it knew or should have known that he was an unsafe driver.
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KPD separately opened an Internal Affairs investigation into Klingmann's conduct. He was removed from patrol and reassigned following the fatal crash. The department stated that its officers receive extensive emergency-driving instruction and that disciplinary action would depend on completion of the internal investigation.
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The internal investigation produced findings serious enough that Klingmann was scheduled for a pre-disciplinary hearing. Before that hearing occurred, Klingmann submitted his resignation. Acting Police Chief Mark Fortner accepted it in 2022.
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The City of Knoxville ultimately paid Luna's family $300,000, the Tennessee statutory limit for claims against governmental entities. Attorney T. Scott Jones said the family wanted law-enforcement agencies to recognize the consequences of high-speed police driving and consider the risks it creates for the public.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Cody Klingmann joined the Knoxville Police Department in April 2020 and therefore had been with KPD for approximately 16 months when he killed Luna. Following the crash, Klingmann was removed from patrol while KPD Internal Affairs investigated his conduct. A pre-disciplinary hearing was scheduled based on the investigation's findings, but Klingmann resigned before that proceeding occurred.
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DISPOSITION:
Klingmann resigned from the Knoxville Police Department while facing a pre-disciplinary hearing arising from the fatal crash. Luna's mother filed a $3 million wrongful-death lawsuit against Klingmann and the City of Knoxville. The City paid the family $300,000, the maximum governmental liability permitted under Tennessee law.

https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/one-dead-and-officer-injured-in-crash-on-kingston-pike/51-5b4384ec-9472-4a8b-b77b-dfaf0c12e8a3
https://www.wbir.com/article/news/local/fatal-crash-kpd-knoxville-east-tennessee/51-b2b7a801-4c1e-4e2a-9b8d-95e4bfc8ad9a
https://www.wvlt.tv/2021/08/13/traffic-alert-kpd-responding-serious-crash-kingston-pike/
https://www.wvlt.tv/2022/03/25/mother-sues-city-knoxville-3-million-after-son-dies-crash-with-police-cruiser/
https://www.nationofchange.org/2022/03/28/family-files-wrongful-death-lawsuit-after-fatal-officer-involved-crash/
https://3bmedianews.com/kpd-officer-officer-involved-in-fatal-crash-resigns-as-3-million-civil-lawsuit-fileda/

On 08/12/2021, a 31-year-old man was killed when a vehicle carrying at least two men crashed and overturned after a Humble Police Department officer pursued it for approximately two miles at what police acknowledged was a very high rate of speed. Contemporary reporting did not establish whether the man killed was the driver or passenger, and later publicly indexed reporting located for this update still does not reliably resolve his identity or his position in the vehicle.
At approximately 2:50 to 3:00 a.m., Humble police responded to the 600-800 block of Wilson Road after someone reported people attempting to break into a business. The targeted business was Couzan's Cajun Restaurant. Someone had broken a window and damaged a wall, apparently attempting to gain access through the restaurant to an adjoining convenience store and its ATM.
A Humble police officer arrived and saw a vehicle occupied by men matching the description associated with the reported break-in. Humble Police Sgt. Jack Burt said the officer drove toward the vehicle, and the driver maneuvered around the patrol car and jumped a curb. The officer then turned around and began pursuing the vehicle southbound on Wilson Road.
Police pursued the vehicle for approximately two miles. Burt acknowledged that the pursuit reached a "very high rate of speed," but the publicly available reporting does not provide the actual maximum speed, the pursuing officer's speed, or the speed of the other vehicle. No later pursuit reconstruction located for this update supplies those figures.
In the 3100 block of Wilson Road near Atascocita Road, the driver lost control. The vehicle left the roadway, struck a tree or entered the wooded median area and rolled over, coming to rest upside down. One of the men was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene. Police believed he had not been wearing a seat belt.
The other 31-year-old man had to be extricated from the wreckage and was transported to a Kingwood-area hospital. The Houston Chronicle reported that he remained in intensive care later that morning. Initial reports conflicted over whether two or three people had been inside the vehicle, but the more detailed police account described two 31-year-old men.
Importantly for classification of the death, police initially could not determine whether the man who was ejected and killed had been driving or riding as a passenger. ABC13 explicitly reported that investigators did not know which occupant had been driving. The later publicly accessible sources located for this update do not provide reliable evidence resolving that issue. He therefore should not be classified as the driver merely because he was killed during the pursuit.
The available record also does not establish that police had attempted a conventional traffic stop before beginning the pursuit. The officer was responding to a reported burglary, encountered the vehicle at the scene, and began pursuing after the driver maneuvered around his patrol vehicle and drove away.
The pursuit was short in distance but apparently extremely fast. Despite police acknowledging the "very high rate of speed," no later publicly accessible pursuit-policy review, crash reconstruction, body-camera or dashboard-camera release, disciplinary determination, lawsuit, settlement or prosecutor review was located that materially expands the original account or examines the decision to continue the pursuit.
The owner of Couzan's Cajun Restaurant, Stella Calais, expressed distress over the death rather than focusing on the damage to her business. She said many young people from the neighborhood came into her restaurant and she did not know whether she might know the men involved. Speaking after learning someone had died, she said the property damage was no longer her primary concern and described the outcome as not worth the loss of life.
The deceased man's identity remains the largest unresolved issue. Contemporary reports withheld both men's names, and searches for later reporting, fatal-crash follow-ups and litigation did not produce a sufficiently reliable identification. The database entry should therefore remain Name Withheld unless an official crash report, death certificate or other authoritative record establishes his identity.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Humble Police Department officer who initiated and conducted the high-speed pursuit has not been publicly identified.

https://abc13.com/humble-police-chase-deadly-crash-rollover-ejected-from-car/10946700/
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/Man-31-dies-in-crash-during-high-speed-Humble-16382363.php
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/08/12/man-killed-after-police-chase-ends-in-crash-in-humble-police-say/

REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Speeding. At approximately 5:24 a.m., a Pearl Police Department officer attempted to stop Carson's 2005 tan Lincoln Town Car for speeding on Pearson Road near Old Whitfield Road. Carson continued driving away at high speed and the officer pursued.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/11/2021, 30-year-old Akeem Jihad Carson of Canton was killed after crashing his Lincoln Town Car during a Pearl Police Department pursuit in Rankin County.
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At approximately 5:24 a.m., a Pearl police officer observed Carson speeding on Pearson Road near Old Whitfield Road and attempted a traffic stop. Carson continued south on Pearson Road toward Richland at what police described as a high rate of speed, and the officer pursued.
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The pursuit lasted approximately three minutes. At about 5:27 a.m., Carson lost control of the Lincoln near South Pearson Road and Monterey Road, left the roadway and crashed into a wooded area. Available reporting does not provide a measured maximum speed, total pursuit distance, or following distance between Carson and the pursuing police vehicle. No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported.
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Richland Fire Department personnel responded and extricated Carson from the wrecked vehicle. Pafford Ambulance transported him to the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where he died from his injuries.
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Police subsequently disclosed that Carson had outstanding warrants from the Mississippi Department of Corrections for parole violations and from Forrest County for possession of a weapon by a convicted felon. Those warrants were not identified as the reason police initiated the pursuit; the Pearl officer attempted the original stop for speeding.
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Carson was 30 years old and lived in Canton. Available public reporting about his death provides little biographical information about his family, work, interests or life outside the fatal pursuit.
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Pearl Police Department and the Rankin County Sheriff's Department investigated the fatal crash.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Pearl Police Department officer who attempted to stop Carson and participated in the pursuit has not been publicly identified in the available reporting.

https://www.wlbt.com/2021/08/11/suspect-dies-injuries-after-pursuit-by-pearl-police/
https://www.wapt.com/article/wanted-canton-man-crashes-after-failed-traffic-stop-dies-at-hospital/37283321

On 08/10/2021, shortly after midnight, a Clearwater police officer attempted to stop an SUV after observing it swerving across lanes on Court Street near Missouri Avenue. The driver made a U-turn and accelerated away. The officer did not continue pursuing the vehicle. Witnesses reported the SUV then traveled the wrong way westbound on one-way Chestnut Street at a high rate of speed. While attempting to avoid an oncoming vehicle, the driver lost control, rolled the SUV, and crashed into a medical office building near Chestnut Street and Prospect Avenue. Twenty-eight-year-old passenger Sasha Marie Hudtwalcker-Grey died at the scene. The driver, Pedro Castro, was transported to a hospital with injuries.
The investigation determined Castro was driving on a suspended license. Toxicology testing later showed his blood alcohol concentration was approximately twice Florida's legal limit, and he also tested positive for THC, hydromorphone, and midazolam. Castro was charged with vehicular homicide, DUI manslaughter, fleeing to elude law enforcement causing death, driving with a suspended or revoked license causing death, and related offenses. Public records also showed he had multiple prior prison terms before the crash.

https://www.tampabay.com/news/clearwater/2021/08/11/woman-killed-after-driver-flees-traffic-stop-crashes-into-building-in-clearwater-police-say/

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Traffic stop; the specific initiating violation has not been publicly disclosed in the available reporting. Clifton Forge Police Officer Shawn Urban attempted to stop a Subaru Outback driven by Michael Julian Wolfe in Clifton Forge. Wolfe continued driving away after Urban activated his emergency lights and siren, and Urban pursued. Later court proceedings confirmed Urban as the officer who initiated the stop.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/09/2021, 26-year-old Randall Lee Tinsley of Low Moor was killed while riding his moped on Selma-Low Moor Road when a Subaru Outback fleeing Clifton Forge Police Officer Shawn Urban crossed into Tinsley's lane and struck him head-on. Tinsley was an uninvolved road user and had no connection to the police stop or pursuit.
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Urban had attempted to stop the Subaru in Clifton Forge. According to prosecutors, Urban activated his blue lights and siren, but the driver continued driving away at high speed onto Selma-Low Moor Road. Contemporary reporting states that Clifton Forge police eventually lost sight of the Subaru before the fatal collision.
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The available public record does not disclose the specific traffic violation that prompted Urban's original stop, the maximum speed reached during the pursuit, its precise duration or distance, or the distance separating Urban's police vehicle and the Subaru when police lost sight of it. No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or police-vehicle contact was reported.
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At approximately 8:30 p.m., the Subaru was traveling west on Route 696/Selma-Low Moor Road when the driver lost control while negotiating a curve, crossed the center line into opposing traffic and struck Tinsley's 2021 Dong Fang moped head-on. Witnesses Thomas and Sarah Burnette saw the collision and called 911.
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The impact threw Tinsley from his moped and into a Nissan Titan pickup traveling behind him. Tinsley was wearing a helmet but died at the scene. The pickup driver was not injured.
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After striking Tinsley, the Subaru turned around and continued east on Selma-Low Moor Road. A short time later, it left the roadway and crashed. The driver then ran from the vehicle. Virginia State Police, the Alleghany County Sheriff's Office and other agencies searched for him using tracking dogs and a law-enforcement helicopter. He was ultimately apprehended in Botetourt County.
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Tinsley was 26 and lived in Low Moor. At sentencing, his mother, Teresa Tinsley, described the devastating effect of his death on their family and testified that Randall was regarded as “the glue” that held the family together.
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Virginia State Police Senior Trooper Benjamin Hobbs investigated the fatal collision. The driver later pleaded guilty to second-degree felony murder and felony eluding a law-enforcement officer. Charges of involuntary manslaughter and leaving the scene of an accident were not prosecuted.
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On 09/12/2022, Alleghany County Circuit Court Judge Edward K. Stein sentenced the driver to 40 years for felony murder, suspended after 25 years of active imprisonment. The five-year sentence for felony eluding was suspended.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Clifton Forge Police Officer Shawn Urban initiated the traffic stop and pursuit. Urban was later promoted to sergeant. In 2024, Clifton Forge recognized him with a lifesaving and commendation award after he pulled a neighbor and a dog from a burning home. No verified prior fatal shooting, fatal pursuit, excessive-force finding, criminal charge or significant disciplinary history involving Urban was identified in the public records reviewed for this reconstruction.
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DISPOSITION:
The fleeing driver pleaded guilty on 05/31/2022 to second-degree felony murder and felony eluding and was sentenced on 09/12/2022 to 40 years for murder, with 15 years suspended and 25 years to serve. Officer Shawn Urban was not criminally charged for initiating the pursuit.

https://www.wsls.com/news/local/2021/08/10/26-year-old-moped-driver-killed-in-alleghany-county-hit-and-run-police-say/
https://virginianreview.com/71843/
https://www.wdbj7.com/2022/06/01/man-found-guilty-fatal-crash-that-happened-during-police-chase/
https://www.alleghanyjournal.com/aj_article.php?ndx=23790
https://twovirginiasmedia.com/news/murder-suspect-michael-julian-wolfe-25-is-guilty-of-second-degree-felony-murder-and-felony-eluding-a-law-enforcement-officer/

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Reported impaired driver. The White County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint about a possible drunk driver near Indiana Beach. Deputies located a black 2013 BMW X3 and pursued it west toward Brookston. The driver was later identified as 23-year-old Joshua Brown of Springfield, Illinois.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/08/2021, 21-year-old Jaliyah Z. Johnson of Country Club Hills, Illinois, was killed with her 4-month-old baby, Jeremiah Zayarie Brown, when the BMW in which they were passengers crashed during a White County Sheriff’s Department pursuit in Brookston. Four other people in the BMW survived, including two other young children.
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The encounter began after the White County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint about a possible impaired driver near Indiana Beach. Deputies located the black 2013 BMW X3 and pursued it west on State Road 18 toward Brookston.
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At approximately 11:00 p.m., the BMW continued west on State Road 18, crossed State Road 43 and entered 3rd Street at high speed. Witness Andrew Barbour, who lived near the crash scene, said he heard tires screeching and then the crash and saw a police vehicle approaching immediately behind the BMW.
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The BMW left the roadway, struck a tree and came to rest against an abandoned house near West 3rd Street and South Ripley Street. Jaliyah and Jeremiah were pronounced dead at the scene.
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The vehicle contained six people: the driver, Jaliyah, Jeremiah, a 21-year-old male passenger, a juvenile and a toddler. The juvenile was airlifted to a South Bend-area hospital, the toddler was airlifted to an Indianapolis-area hospital, and the adult male passenger was transported to a Monticello-area hospital.
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Police said the driver attempted to run from the crash scene but White County deputies apprehended him. Investigators later reported that he had been under the influence of a controlled substance.
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No public source located for this reconstruction identifies a PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact before the crash. The available reporting describes the BMW as traveling at high speed but does not provide a measured maximum pursuit speed, the precise pursuit duration or distance, or the distance separating the pursuing deputy from the BMW immediately before it left the roadway.
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Jaliyah was born on 07/27/2000 and was only 21 when she died. Funeral-home records identify Jeremiah Zayarie Brown as her baby and state that he was born on 03/23/2021 in Springfield, Illinois. Mother and infant were memorialized together after their deaths.
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The White County Sheriff’s Department asked Indiana State Police to conduct the crash investigation. ISP identified Trooper Fike as the investigating trooper in its preliminary reconstruction.
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The surviving driver faced felony allegations including neglect of a dependent resulting in death, resisting law enforcement causing death, reckless driving causing death and operating a vehicle while intoxicated causing death. The other adult passenger, Eric Stokes, faced a misdemeanor resisting-law-enforcement allegation.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The White County Sheriff’s Department deputy or deputies who initiated and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the official release or contemporary reporting located for this reconstruction. Indiana State Police Trooper Fike investigated the crash but was not the pursuing deputy.

https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/illinois-woman-4-month-old-identified-as-victims-killed-in-crash-after-white-county-police-chase
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/intoxicated-driver-led-officers-in-pursuit-then-crashed-killing-baby-and-adult/531-a52dd332-a34d-46b3-b8d1-3ac03275307f
https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2021/08/09/two-killed-police-pursuit-ends-crash-white-county/5553487001/
https://fox59.com/news/isp-infant-adult-killed-when-pursuit-ends-with-crash-in-white-county/
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/INPOLICE/bulletins/2ebfd84
https://www.wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/2-dead-including-infant-after-white-county-pursuit-ends-in-crash/
https://www.smithandthomas.com/obituary/jaliyah-johnson

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Reported impaired driver. The White County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint about a possible drunk driver near Indiana Beach. Deputies located a black 2013 BMW X3 and pursued it west toward Brookston.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/08/2021, 4-month-old Jeremiah Zayarie Brown of Country Club Hills, Illinois, was killed with his mother, 21-year-old Jaliyah Z. Johnson, when the BMW in which they were passengers crashed during a White County Sheriff’s Department pursuit in Brookston.
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Jeremiah had been born on 03/23/2021 in Springfield, Illinois. He was not yet five months old when he died. His funeral-home memorial identifies him as Jaliyah’s baby and memorialized mother and son together.
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The pursuit began after the White County Sheriff’s Department received a complaint about a possible impaired driver near Indiana Beach. Deputies located the black 2013 BMW X3 and pursued it west on State Road 18 toward Brookston.
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At approximately 11:00 p.m., the BMW crossed State Road 43 and continued onto 3rd Street at high speed. It left the roadway, struck a tree and came to rest against an abandoned house near South Ripley Street.
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Jeremiah and his mother were pronounced dead at the scene. Four other people in the BMW survived, including another juvenile and a toddler who required helicopter transport to hospitals.
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A witness living across from the crash scene reported hearing tires screeching before impact and seeing a police vehicle approaching behind the BMW immediately after the crash. Public reporting does not provide a measured maximum pursuit speed, exact pursuit distance or duration, or the following distance between the deputy and the BMW when it crashed.
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No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional contact between a sheriff’s vehicle and the BMW was identified in the available reporting.
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Police said the surviving driver attempted to run from the crash scene but deputies apprehended him. Investigators subsequently reported that he had been under the influence of a controlled substance. He faced multiple felony allegations arising from the deaths and the pursuit.
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Indiana State Police investigated the fatal crash at the request of the White County Sheriff’s Department. ISP identified Trooper Fike as the investigating trooper.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The White County Sheriff’s Department deputy or deputies who initiated and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the official release or contemporary reporting located for this reconstruction. Indiana State Police Trooper Fike investigated the crash but was not identified as a pursuing officer.

https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/illinois-woman-4-month-old-identified-as-victims-killed-in-crash-after-white-county-police-chase
https://www.wthr.com/article/news/local/intoxicated-driver-led-officers-in-pursuit-then-crashed-killing-baby-and-adult/531-a52dd332-a34d-46b3-b8d1-3ac03275307f
https://www.jconline.com/story/news/2021/08/09/two-killed-police-pursuit-ends-crash-white-county/5553487001/
https://fox59.com/news/isp-infant-adult-killed-when-pursuit-ends-with-crash-in-white-county/
https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/INPOLICE/bulletins/2ebfd84
https://www.wishtv.com/news/crime-watch-8/2-dead-including-infant-after-white-county-pursuit-ends-in-crash/
https://www.smithandthomas.com/fh_live/15100/15133/media/Johnson-and-Brown-dual-obit.pdf

REASON FOR CHASE: Bystander killed after San Antonio police pursued a wrong-way driver reported traveling approximately 90 mph.
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NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, 25-year-old Daniela Nicol Lute was killed when a Ford F-350 driven the wrong way on Interstate 35 crashed head-on into the Nissan Rogue she was driving near Walzem Road in San Antonio. Her friend Diana Rubio, who was riding with her, was also killed.
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San Antonio police received multiple 911 calls reporting a Ford F-350 traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 37. SAPD's Eagle helicopter located the truck and followed it while officers attempted to intercept the driver on the ground. The truck continued at approximately 90 mph and eventually entered Interstate 35.
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At approximately 2:45 a.m., the F-350 crashed head-on into Lute's Nissan Rogue in the southbound lanes of I-35 near Walzem Road. Lute and Rubio suffered fatal blunt-force injuries. The truck overturned and caught fire; its driver survived.
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Lute was a registered nurse who earned her bachelor's degree in nursing from Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi in 2018. Her parents described her nursing work as extending well beyond medical care, saying she acted as a counselor, protector and friend to her patients. She loved hiking, running and soccer, and Friedrich Wilderness Park was one of her favorite places.
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Family and friends subsequently held memorial gatherings for Lute and Rubio, including a gathering at the crash location and a celebration of their lives at Friedrich Wilderness Park.
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DISPOSITION:
Ricardo Rodriguez was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter. A Bexar County grand jury subsequently indicted him, alleging that he caused the deaths of Daniela Lute and Diana Rubio by operating a vehicle while intoxicated and crashing into their vehicle.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The San Antonio police officer(s) involved in attempting to intercept Rodriguez were not publicly identified in the reporting located.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/07/fiery-wrong-way-crash-with-suspected-drunken-driver-kills-two-women/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/09/parents-of-beloved-san-antonio-nurse-killed-in-wrong-way-crash-shares-her-life-story/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/15/family-friends-gather-to-honor-lives-of-two-women-killed-in-wrong-way-crash/
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/GoFundMe-set-San-Antonio-woman-killed-in-crash-16374236.php
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-remembrance-nurse-killed-car-crash-16379608.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/San-Antonio-nurse-drunken-driver-wrong-way-crash-16375015.php
https://www.puenteandsons.com/obituaries/daniela-lute
https://www.bexar.org/CivicAlerts.asp?AID=919 

REASON FOR CHASE: Bystander killed after San Antonio police pursued a wrong-way driver reported traveling approximately 90 mph.
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NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, 27-year-old Diana Rubio was killed while riding with her friend Daniela Nicol Lute in a Nissan Rogue that was struck head-on by a wrong-way Ford F-350 on Interstate 35 near Walzem Road in San Antonio. Both women were killed.
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San Antonio police received multiple 911 calls reporting the F-350 traveling the wrong direction on Interstate 37. SAPD's Eagle helicopter located the truck and followed it while officers on the ground attempted to intercept the driver. The truck continued at approximately 90 mph and eventually entered Interstate 35.
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At approximately 2:45 a.m., the F-350 crashed head-on into the Nissan Rogue occupied by Rubio and Lute in the southbound lanes of I-35 near Walzem Road. Both women suffered fatal blunt-force injuries. The F-350 overturned and caught fire; its driver survived.
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Rubio and Lute were close friends. Following their deaths, relatives and friends gathered at the crash site to remember the two women and subsequently held a celebration of their lives at Friedrich Wilderness Park.
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DISPOSITION:
The wrong-way driver, Ricardo Rodriguez, was charged with two counts of intoxication manslaughter. A Bexar County grand jury subsequently indicted Rodriguez, alleging that he caused the deaths of Diana Rubio and Daniela Lute by driving while intoxicated and crashing into their vehicle.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The San Antonio Police Department officer(s) involved in attempting to intercept Rodriguez were not publicly identified.

https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/07/fiery-wrong-way-crash-with-suspected-drunken-driver-kills-two-women/
https://www.ksat.com/news/local/2021/08/15/family-friends-gather-to-honor-lives-of-two-women-killed-in-wrong-way-crash/
https://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-remembrance-nurse-killed-car-crash-16379608.php
https://www.expressnews.com/news/article/San-Antonio-nurse-drunken-driver-wrong-way-crash-16375015.php
https://www.bexar.org/CivicAlerts.asp?AID=919

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Checkpoint evasion. At approximately 7:09 p.m., a Jeep Liberty carrying 11 people circumvented the primary inspection area of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Three Points and continued east on State Route 86. Border Patrol agents began searching for the Jeep, assisted by a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, an unidentified passenger was killed with two other passengers when a Jeep Liberty crashed and caught fire during a lengthy U.S. Border Patrol pursuit that began near Three Points and ended approximately 39 miles northwest of Tucson near Picacho Peak.
.
At approximately 7:09 p.m., the Jeep bypassed the primary inspection area at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Three Points and continued east on State Route 86. Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents traveled east attempting to locate it while a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter joined the search and located the Jeep from the air.
.
The helicopter crew continued tracking the Jeep and relaying its location to agents on the ground. The AMO pilot reported observing the Jeep being driven erratically and running several red lights as it continued through Tucson. The Jeep entered northbound Interstate 19 approximately 24 miles east of the checkpoint and subsequently merged onto westbound Interstate 10.
.
Near Marana, a National Guard helicopter relieved the CBP helicopter and continued aerial surveillance. With air crews providing the Jeep's location, Border Patrol agents again located it on I-10.
.
At approximately 7:57 p.m., nearly 50 minutes after the Jeep circumvented the checkpoint, a Border Patrol agent deployed a Vehicle Immobilization Device across I-10 near Picacho Peak. The Jeep lost control after encountering the device, crossed the interstate median and entered the eastbound lanes, where it struck a tractor-trailer.
.
The collision sent the Jeep back into the median, where it caught fire. Border Patrol agents requested emergency medical assistance, pulled people from the burning vehicle and rendered aid.
.
Eleven people had been traveling in the Jeep. Two unidentified passengers were pronounced dead at the crash scene. Two other passengers were transported by medical helicopter to Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, where an unidentified man subsequently died. Six additional passengers were transported by ground ambulance for treatment, and another person was later taken for medical evaluation.
.
Authorities subsequently identified the driver as 18-year-old Jacob Jordan and alleged that he was transporting 10 migrants. Jordan survived and was charged with human smuggling and other offenses. Because the deceased person on this page was a passenger, Jordan's unrelated history is not pertinent to this report.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported. The Vehicle Immobilization Device deployed by the Border Patrol agent was the documented police intervention immediately preceding the loss of control and fatal collision.
.
The three people killed were not publicly identified by name, age or nationality in the contemporary CBP release or subsequent reporting located for this reconstruction. The lack of identification prevents reliable biographical information about this decedent from being included.
.
The incident was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, reviewed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility, and reported to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General. This report represents one of three fatalities each.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Border Patrol agent who deployed the Vehicle Immobilization Device and the other agents participating in the pursuit have not been publicly identified.

https://www.kold.com/2021/08/10/three-dead-after-cbp-pursuit-along-i-10-near-tucson/
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/3-dead-8-injured-after-u-s-border-patrol-pursuit-near-tucson-ends-in-fiery-crash
https://borderoversight.org/accountability/under-opr-investigation/?sector=tucson

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Traffic violation. At approximately 1:30 a.m., a Ukiah Police Department officer observed the 15-year-old driver of a gray 2017 Volkswagen Beetle run a red light at Gobbi Street and South State Street in Ukiah and attempted a traffic stop. The driver continued south on South State Street instead of stopping, and the officer pursued.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, 14-year-old Selena Clark-Quintero of Potter Valley was killed while riding in the front passenger seat of a Volkswagen Beetle pursued by a Ukiah Police Department officer. The 15-year-old driver and a 13-year-old rear passenger suffered major injuries.
.
The encounter began at approximately 1:30 a.m. after a Ukiah officer observed the Volkswagen run a red light at Gobbi Street and South State Street. The officer attempted to stop the vehicle, but the driver continued south on South State Street. Police pursued as the Volkswagen accelerated to speeds exceeding 100 mph.
.
The pursuit continued from South State Street onto southbound U.S. Highway 101. Ukiah police reported that the pursuing officer eventually lost sight of the Volkswagen as it continued south at more than 100 mph. The available accounts do not establish precisely where the officer lost visual contact, how far behind the police vehicle was at that point, or whether the officer formally terminated the pursuit or simply could no longer keep pace.
.
The Volkswagen exited Highway 101 at Rivino Ranch Road. The driver entered the intersection at high speed without stopping at the posted stop sign, continued across the intersection and left the west edge of the roadway near the Highway 101 on-ramp. The Volkswagen became airborne, struck a tree and overturned onto its roof, sustaining major front-end damage.
.
Selena was riding in the right-front passenger seat and was not wearing a seat belt. She suffered fatal injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene. The 15-year-old driver, a Redwood Valley resident, suffered major injuries and was transported to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. The 13-year-old rear passenger, an Ukiah resident who had been wearing a seat belt, also suffered major injuries and was transported for hospital treatment.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported. The documented pursuit speed exceeded 100 mph. Contemporary reporting did not establish whether alcohol or drugs contributed to the crash.
.
California Highway Patrol investigated the fatal crash. Mendocino County Sheriff's Office subsequently identified the girl killed as Selena Clark-Quintero of Potter Valley.
.
Selena was known to her family as “Lena.” She was the daughter of Amy Clark and Miguel Quintero and had two sisters, Sofia and Araceli. Her family described her as a bright young girl with big dreams who brought light to the people around her. The crash affected the Potter Valley school community sufficiently that the Potter Valley Community Unified School District arranged counseling assistance for students, family members and school staff.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Ukiah Police Department officer who attempted the traffic stop and pursued the Volkswagen has not been publicly identified in the contemporary reporting or other public sources located for this reconstruction.

https://mendovoice.com/2021/08/one-teenager-killed-and-two-more-injured-in-solo-crash-while-fleeing-ukiah-police/
https://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/news/1-teen-dead-2-injured-in-ukiah-crash-after-15-year-old-driver-flees-police/
https://theava.com/archives/161093
https://kymkemp.com/2021/08/09/pursuit-ends-with-14-year-old-dead-two-with-major-injuries-near-ukiah/

GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/selena-clark-quintero

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Checkpoint evasion. At approximately 7:09 p.m., a Jeep Liberty carrying 11 people circumvented the primary inspection area of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Three Points and continued east on State Route 86. Border Patrol agents began searching for the Jeep, assisted by a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, an unidentified passenger was killed with two other passengers when a Jeep Liberty crashed and caught fire during a lengthy U.S. Border Patrol pursuit that began near Three Points and ended approximately 39 miles northwest of Tucson near Picacho Peak.
.
At approximately 7:09 p.m., the Jeep bypassed the primary inspection area at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Three Points and continued east on State Route 86. Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents traveled east attempting to locate it while a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter joined the search and located the Jeep from the air.
.
The helicopter crew continued tracking the Jeep and relaying its location to agents on the ground. The AMO pilot reported observing the Jeep being driven erratically and running several red lights as it continued through Tucson. The Jeep entered northbound Interstate 19 approximately 24 miles east of the checkpoint and subsequently merged onto westbound Interstate 10.
.
Near Marana, a National Guard helicopter relieved the CBP helicopter and continued aerial surveillance. With air crews providing the Jeep's location, Border Patrol agents again located it on I-10.
.
At approximately 7:57 p.m., nearly 50 minutes after the Jeep circumvented the checkpoint, a Border Patrol agent deployed a Vehicle Immobilization Device across I-10 near Picacho Peak. The Jeep lost control after encountering the device, crossed the interstate median and entered the eastbound lanes, where it struck a tractor-trailer.
.
The collision sent the Jeep back into the median, where it caught fire. Border Patrol agents requested emergency medical assistance, pulled people from the burning vehicle and rendered aid.
.
Eleven people had been traveling in the Jeep. Two unidentified passengers were pronounced dead at the crash scene. Two other passengers were transported by medical helicopter to Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, where an unidentified man subsequently died. Six additional passengers were transported by ground ambulance for treatment, and another person was later taken for medical evaluation.
.
Authorities subsequently identified the driver as 18-year-old Jacob Jordan and alleged that he was transporting 10 migrants. Jordan survived and was charged with human smuggling and other offenses. Because the deceased person on this page was a passenger, Jordan's unrelated history is not pertinent to this report.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported. The Vehicle Immobilization Device deployed by the Border Patrol agent was the documented police intervention immediately preceding the loss of control and fatal collision.
.
The three people killed were not publicly identified by name, age or nationality in the contemporary CBP release or subsequent reporting located for this reconstruction. The lack of identification prevents reliable biographical information about this decedent from being included.
.
The incident was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, reviewed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility, and reported to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General. This report represents one of three fatalities each.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Border Patrol agent who deployed the Vehicle Immobilization Device and the other agents participating in the pursuit have not been publicly identified.

https://www.kold.com/2021/08/10/three-dead-after-cbp-pursuit-along-i-10-near-tucson/
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/3-dead-8-injured-after-u-s-border-patrol-pursuit-near-tucson-ends-in-fiery-crash
https://borderoversight.org/accountability/under-opr-investigation/?sector=tucson

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Checkpoint evasion. At approximately 7:09 p.m., a Jeep Liberty carrying 11 people circumvented the primary inspection area of the U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint near Three Points and continued east on State Route 86. Border Patrol agents began searching for the Jeep, assisted by a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/07/2021, an unidentified passenger was killed with two other passengers when a Jeep Liberty crashed and caught fire during a lengthy U.S. Border Patrol pursuit that began near Three Points and ended approximately 39 miles northwest of Tucson near Picacho Peak.
.
At approximately 7:09 p.m., the Jeep bypassed the primary inspection area at the Border Patrol checkpoint near Three Points and continued east on State Route 86. Tucson Sector Border Patrol agents traveled east attempting to locate it while a CBP Air and Marine Operations helicopter joined the search and located the Jeep from the air.
.
The helicopter crew continued tracking the Jeep and relaying its location to agents on the ground. The AMO pilot reported observing the Jeep being driven erratically and running several red lights as it continued through Tucson. The Jeep entered northbound Interstate 19 approximately 24 miles east of the checkpoint and subsequently merged onto westbound Interstate 10.
.
Near Marana, a National Guard helicopter relieved the CBP helicopter and continued aerial surveillance. With air crews providing the Jeep's location, Border Patrol agents again located it on I-10.
.
At approximately 7:57 p.m., nearly 50 minutes after the Jeep circumvented the checkpoint, a Border Patrol agent deployed a Vehicle Immobilization Device across I-10 near Picacho Peak. The Jeep lost control after encountering the device, crossed the interstate median and entered the eastbound lanes, where it struck a tractor-trailer.
.
The collision sent the Jeep back into the median, where it caught fire. Border Patrol agents requested emergency medical assistance, pulled people from the burning vehicle and rendered aid.
.
Eleven people had been traveling in the Jeep. Two unidentified passengers were pronounced dead at the crash scene. Two other passengers were transported by medical helicopter to Banner-University Medical Center in Tucson, where an unidentified man subsequently died. Six additional passengers were transported by ground ambulance for treatment, and another person was later taken for medical evaluation.
.
Authorities subsequently identified the driver as 18-year-old Jacob Jordan and alleged that he was transporting 10 migrants. Jordan survived and was charged with human smuggling and other offenses. Because the deceased person on this page was a passenger, Jordan's unrelated history is not pertinent to this report.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported. The Vehicle Immobilization Device deployed by the Border Patrol agent was the documented police intervention immediately preceding the loss of control and fatal collision.
.
The three people killed were not publicly identified by name, age or nationality in the contemporary CBP release or subsequent reporting located for this reconstruction. The lack of identification prevents reliable biographical information about this decedent from being included.
.
The incident was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Arizona Department of Public Safety, reviewed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility, and reported to the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General. This report represents one of three fatalities each.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Border Patrol agent who deployed the Vehicle Immobilization Device and the other agents participating in the pursuit have not been publicly identified.

https://www.kold.com/2021/08/10/three-dead-after-cbp-pursuit-along-i-10-near-tucson/
https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/3-dead-8-injured-after-u-s-border-patrol-pursuit-near-tucson-ends-in-fiery-crash
https://borderoversight.org/accountability/under-opr-investigation/?sector=tucson

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Possible involvement in a shooting. At approximately 9:30 p.m., Arlington Police Department officers responded to a reported shooting in the 800 block of Timberlake Drive. While investigating, officers received information that a vehicle possibly connected to the shooting was leaving the area. Officers located a Chevrolet Impala carrying two people and attempted to stop it. The driver continued driving away and Arlington officers pursued.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/06/2021, an unidentified driver was killed after crashing a Chevrolet Impala during an Arlington Police Department pursuit that began following a shooting call in Arlington and ended in neighboring Grand Prairie. Although initial news reports were published on August 7, police said the shooting call and fatal pursuit occurred Friday night, August 6.
.
At approximately 9:30 p.m., Arlington officers responded to the 800 block of Timberlake Drive regarding a shooting. During the investigation, police received information that a possible vehicle connected to the shooting had left the area. Officers attempted to stop the Chevrolet Impala, but the driver continued driving away and police pursued. The contemporary reporting described the driver only as possibly connected to the shooting and did not establish that the driver had fired a weapon or otherwise participated in the shooting.
.
The Impala, carrying the driver and one passenger, traveled from Arlington into Grand Prairie. The pursuit reached the 2300 block of West Marshall Drive, a little more than one mile from the original shooting scene.
.
Police said the driver lost control of the Impala while traveling east on Marshall Drive. The Impala crashed into an SUV that had stopped in the westbound lanes to yield to approaching emergency vehicles. The impact ejected the Impala's driver.
.
Emergency personnel transported the driver to a hospital, where the driver died. The passenger in the Impala and the driver of the uninvolved SUV were also transported to hospitals with injuries police described as non-life-threatening.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact immediately before the crash was reported in the contemporary accounts. The available reporting does not provide the pursuit's maximum speed, precise duration, total distance, following distance between the Arlington police vehicle and Impala immediately before the crash, or whether a supervisor authorized or considered terminating the pursuit.
.
Grand Prairie Police Department assisted with the crash investigation because the collision occurred within Grand Prairie. Arlington Police Department retained responsibility for investigating the original shooting and the circumstances of the pursuit.
.
Contemporary reporting stated that the Tarrant County Medical Examiner's Office was expected to publicly identify the driver after notification of relatives. However, a reliable subsequent public source identifying the deceased driver has not been located in the material available for this reconstruction. Without a confirmed identity, biographical information about the driver's family, occupation and life cannot reliably be included.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Arlington Police Department officer or officers who attempted to stop the Impala and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available contemporary reporting.
.

https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/08/07/1-dead-2-injured-after-crash-during-pursuit-arlington-police-say/
https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/crime/driver-dies-in-crash-after-leading-arlington-grand-prairie-police-on-chase/287-7ea247bc-ff0b-42e0-af60-9cae8410c185
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article253343423.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/driver-dies-crashing-chase-arlington-police/
https://www.univision.com/local/dallas-kuvn/muere-un-conductor-al-intentar-huir-de-las-autoridades-en-arlington

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Speeding followed by suspected impaired driving and flight from a traffic stop. At approximately 12:14 a.m., Barron County Sheriff’s Sergeant Allen stopped a vehicle driven by Mohamed A. Shire for speeding on County Highway O near U.S. Highway 8 east of Barron. Allen subsequently observed evidence that Shire was allegedly intoxicated and attempted to conduct field sobriety testing. After a physical struggle with Allen, Shire returned to the vehicle and drove away at high speed with the passenger still inside.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/06/2021, an unidentified male passenger was killed after Mohamed A. Shire crashed into a tree following a seven-mile Barron County Sheriff’s Department pursuit in Barron County. The passenger was not driving the vehicle and had been riding with Shire when Sergeant Allen initiated the traffic stop.
.
At approximately 12:14 a.m., Sergeant Allen stopped Shire for speeding. The later criminal complaint places the stop on 18th Street at 12th Avenue. Allen approached and found two men in the vehicle. He reported smelling a strong odor of alcohol and seeing two open glass beer bottles containing liquid. Allen instructed Shire to turn off the engine and get out.
.
Allen reported smelling alcohol on Shire after he exited the vehicle and directed him toward the front of the patrol vehicle for field sobriety testing. Shire then said he needed to retrieve something from his vehicle and walked back toward the driver’s door despite Allen telling him not to return to it.
.
Allen grabbed Shire and the two struggled briefly. Police said Shire broke free and reached inside the vehicle. Allen drew his service weapon, retreated behind his patrol vehicle for cover and repeatedly ordered Shire to exit with his hands visible. Shire and the passenger remained inside.
.
Shire started the vehicle and drove south on 18th Street at high speed. Allen entered his patrol vehicle, activated its emergency lights and siren and pursued.
.
The pursuit continued south on 18th Street for approximately seven miles, from 12th Avenue to 5th Avenue. Allen eventually lost sight of Shire’s vehicle and terminated the pursuit at 5th Avenue. The entire pursuit occurred within Barron County and was recorded by Allen’s body-worn camera and patrol-car camera.
.
Allen remained at the location where he terminated the pursuit for more than one minute and notified dispatch that he had ended the chase and lost sight of the vehicle. He then continued south on 18th Street at normal speed with his emergency lights and siren turned off.
.
As Allen approached County Highway A and 18th Street, he saw what appeared to be vehicle lights in the woods south of the intersection. Deputy Erik Sedani arrived and joined Allen. They located Shire’s vehicle in a field driveway where it had crashed into a tree.
.
Allen checked the male passenger and found no signs of life. Chetek EMS subsequently confirmed that the passenger was dead. Shire survived with minor injuries and was transported to Barron Hospital. Deputy Erik Sedani was assigned to investigate the impaired-driving component of the fatal crash.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported. The available court material establishes a seven-mile pursuit but does not provide a measured maximum speed for Shire or Allen’s patrol vehicle.
.
Wisconsin State Patrol conducted the crash reconstruction. Dallas Fire Department, Chetek and Mayo Ambulance, Barron Police Department and the Barron County Sheriff’s Department also responded.
.
Shire was initially arrested on suspicion of sixth-offense OWI, homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and fleeing police. The criminal complaint subsequently identified him as Mohamed A. Shire, 44, of Barron.
.
An amended complaint filed on 09/29/2021 charged Shire with felony fleeing/eluding, homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle as a repeat offense, and homicide by use of a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration as a repeat offense. Shire posted a $5,000 cash bond after an August 9 hearing.
.
Shire failed to appear for his preliminary hearing on 11/09/2021. The court was advised that he might have fled the country and issued a nationwide arrest warrant.
.
Despite the later criminal proceedings, the deceased passenger remained identified only by initials in the publicly reported criminal complaint. His full name, age and biographical information have not been reliably established in the public material located for this reconstruction.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Barron County Sheriff’s Sergeant Allen conducted the original speeding stop, struggled with Shire and subsequently pursued him for approximately seven miles before terminating the pursuit after losing sight of the vehicle. Allen’s body camera and squad camera recorded the encounter and pursuit. Deputy Erik Sedani arrived after Allen had terminated the chase and was assigned to investigate the impaired-driving component of the fatal crash; Sedani was not identified as the pursuing deputy.
.

https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/sheriff-drunk-driver-flees-wis-deputy-after-traffic-stop-passenger-killed-in-crash/
https://www.weau.com/2021/08/06/one-dead-one-custody-after-friday-morning-crash-barron-county/
https://www.fox9.com/news/traffic-stop-leads-to-tussle-chase-ends-in-deadly-crash
https://drydenwire.com/news/passenger-dead-driver-arrested-on-homicide-causing-death-by-intoxicated-use-of-vehicle/
https://drydenwire.com/news/court-issues-nationwide-arrest-warrant-for-man-charged-with-homicide-by-owi/
https://www.startribune.com/suspected-drunken-driver-flees-deputy-in-w-wisconsin-crashes-and-kills-passenger/600085681/
https://www.cumberland-advocate.com/sites/default/files/cum-2021-08-18-a-001%20e-edition.pdf

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Checkpoint evasion. A U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to the Las Cruces station observed Erik A. Molix driving north on New Mexico State Road 185 approximately six miles south of the Border Patrol checkpoint. The agent initially followed without activating emergency equipment. Molix subsequently circumvented the checkpoint by driving into the southbound lanes and continuing north, after which the agent activated emergency equipment and attempted to stop him. A second Border Patrol unit joined the pursuit.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/03/2021, 25-year-old Erik A. Molix was critically injured when the SUV he was driving overturned during a U.S. Border Patrol pursuit on New Mexico State Road 185 north of Las Cruces. An Ecuadorian passenger died from injuries sustained in the crash, eight other passengers were hospitalized, and Molix died 12 days later.
.
The encounter began early that morning approximately six miles south of the Border Patrol checkpoint on State Road 185. According to CBP's initial account, a Las Cruces Border Patrol agent saw Molix's northbound SUV pull to the side of the highway and then resume traveling north. The agent began following the SUV without activating emergency lights or siren.
.
Molix approached the Border Patrol checkpoint, which is approximately 69 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border, but circumvented it by entering the southbound lanes of State Road 185 and continuing north. The agent then activated emergency equipment and attempted to stop the SUV. Another Border Patrol unit joined the pursuit.
.
Later reporting identified Molix as a U.S. citizen transporting nine undocumented migrants. Border Patrol records documented pursuit speeds reaching approximately 73 mph.
.
Approximately three miles north of the checkpoint, the SUV went out of control and overturned. Several passengers were ejected. CBP's original public statement described the event simply as Molix losing control while attempting to evade agents and did not disclose police-vehicle contact immediately before the rollover.
.
Later evidence materially complicated that account. Records obtained from Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team showed that a Border Patrol vehicle made contact with the SUV immediately before it overturned. WOLA's reconstruction states that the Border Patrol vehicle clipped Molix's SUV, sending it tumbling from the roadway.
.
Surviving passenger Lesvin Gámez subsequently gave an even more serious account. Gámez alleged that a Border Patrol vehicle struck the rear of the SUV during the encounter and later hit it again immediately before he lost consciousness. His account conflicts with CBP's original description of Molix simply losing control.
.
The available records also contain significant inconsistencies concerning the pursuit itself. Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team described a pursuit of approximately 3.2 miles; another CBP report described approximately 1.5 miles; and location coordinates contained in another agency record were inconsistent with both accounts. Records also conflicted over the distance between the Border Patrol vehicle and Molix's SUV, when emergency lights and sirens were activated, and whether spike strips were used.
.
An unidentified Ecuadorian male passenger suffered fatal injuries. Eight other passengers were hospitalized. Molix survived the initial crash but remained critically injured and died 12 days later.
.
Molix's mother was a fifth-grade teacher in El Paso. She learned that her son had died through a CBP news release rather than directly from the agency. She subsequently became an ACLU client and challenged the circumstances surrounding his death and the adequacy and independence of the investigation.
.
The investigation itself became a significant part of the case. Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team arrived at the crash scene within approximately an hour and assumed a central investigative role. CIT personnel photographed and processed the scene, collected physical evidence, obtained video and radio communications, interviewed Border Patrol agents and surviving passengers, obtained outside law-enforcement and medical-examiner records, and participated in reconstructing the crash.
.
Body-camera footage from the scene captured a Border Patrol agent discussing the arrival of the Critical Incident Team and indicating that agents would provide statements to that team. The ACLU subsequently obtained the 162-page CIT investigative report and criticized Border Patrol for effectively investigating an incident involving its own agents.
.
The ACLU identified substantial inconsistencies and deficiencies in that report, including conflicting descriptions of pursuit distance, police following distance, emergency-equipment activation and possible spike-strip use. The organization argued that reliance on the Border Patrol Critical Incident Team undermined the independence of the investigation.
.
The incident was also investigated or reviewed by Homeland Security Investigations, New Mexico State Police, CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility, the El Paso County Office of the Medical Examiner and the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Las Cruces Border Patrol agent who initially followed Molix, the agent driving the Border Patrol vehicle that made contact with the SUV, and the other agents participating in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available unredacted records. The Border Patrol Critical Incident Team's role in investigating its fellow agents subsequently became the subject of extensive criticism by the ACLU and other accountability organizations.

https://borderoversight.org/event/august-3-2021/
https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/border-patrol-is-investigating-itself-following-deaths-report-reveals
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-demands-customs-and-border-protection-investigate-recent-deadly-vehicle-pursuit
https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/aclu_letter_to_cbp_re_las_cruces_vehicle_pursuit.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/us/politics/border-patrol-migrant-deaths.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22016802-us_cbp_final_report_redacted
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/12/12/the-cover-up-teams-operating-on-the-us-border

Checkpoint evasion. A U.S. Border Patrol agent assigned to the Las Cruces station began following the SUV in which the deceased man was riding approximately six miles south of the Border Patrol checkpoint on New Mexico State Road 185. The agent initially followed without emergency equipment activated. After the driver circumvented the checkpoint by entering the southbound lanes and continuing north, the agent activated emergency equipment and attempted to stop the SUV. A second Border Patrol unit joined the pursuit.

EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/03/2021, an unidentified male citizen of Ecuador was fatally injured while riding as a passenger in an SUV pursued by U.S. Border Patrol agents on New Mexico State Road 185 north of Las Cruces. The driver, 25-year-old Erik A. Molix, was critically injured and died 12 days later. Eight other passengers were hospitalized.

The passenger was one of nine migrants traveling in the SUV. Border Patrol agents pursued the vehicle after its driver circumvented the immigration checkpoint on State Road 185. The pursuit reached speeds of approximately 73 mph.

Approximately three miles north of the checkpoint, the SUV went out of control and overturned, ejecting several passengers. CBP initially stated only that the driver lost control while evading Border Patrol. Later records established that a Border Patrol vehicle made contact with the SUV immediately before it overturned.

Surviving passenger Lesvin Gámez later alleged that agents struck the SUV from behind and then struck it again before the rollover. Gámez said Border Patrol never subsequently contacted him to obtain his account of the pursuit. His account directly challenged the original CBP description of the crash.

The Ecuadorian passenger suffered catastrophic injuries and died. Eight other passengers were hospitalized. Molix survived for another 12 days before dying from his injuries.

Border Patrol's Critical Incident Team arrived shortly after the crash and took a central role in collecting evidence and investigating the actions of Border Patrol personnel. The ACLU later obtained the CIT report and identified significant inconsistencies concerning pursuit distance, following distance, activation of lights and sirens, possible spike-strip use and the circumstances immediately preceding the rollover.

The deceased passenger's full name has not been publicly established in the sources located for this reconstruction. CBP identified him only as a male citizen of Ecuador. His unidentified status prevents reliable information about his family, occupation and life before his death from being included.

OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Border Patrol agents who initiated and participated in the pursuit, including the agent driving the Border Patrol vehicle that made contact with the SUV, have not been publicly identified in the available unredacted records. Border Patrol's own Critical Incident Team played a central role in investigating the fatal incident, a practice subsequently challenged by the ACLU because of the conflict created when Border Patrol personnel investigated incidents involving fellow Border Patrol agents.

https://borderoversight.org/event/august-3-2021/
https://www.aclu.org/news/immigrants-rights/border-patrol-is-investigating-itself-following-deaths-report-reveals
https://www.aclu.org/press-releases/aclu-demands-customs-and-border-protection-investigate-recent-deadly-vehicle-pursuit
https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/aclu_letter_to_cbp_re_las_cruces_vehicle_pursuit.pdf
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/09/us/politics/border-patrol-migrant-deaths.html
https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22016802-us_cbp_final_report_redacted
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2022/12/12/the-cover-up-teams-operating-on-the-us-border

REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Attempted drug arrest following an alleged large methamphetamine delivery. McCracken County Sheriff’s Office drug detectives were conducting an investigation at a hotel in the 5100 block of Cairo Road. Detectives alleged that a large quantity of methamphetamine had been delivered and attempted to make an arrest. Young maneuvered his Honda Civic around detectives attempting to prevent the vehicle from leaving and continued west on Cairo Road. Detectives pursued.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/02/2021, 27-year-old Lamont X. Young of De Soto, Illinois, was critically injured when his Honda Civic crashed into an uninvolved motorist during a McCracken County Sheriff’s Office drug-investigation pursuit near Barkley Regional Airport. Young was airlifted to a Nashville hospital and died from his injuries early on 08/03/2021.
.
McCracken County drug detectives were conducting an investigation at a hotel in the 5100 block of Cairo Road. According to the sheriff’s office, detectives alleged that Young had delivered a large quantity of methamphetamine and attempted to arrest him. Detectives positioned themselves to prevent the Honda from leaving, but Young maneuvered around them and drove west onto Cairo Road.
.
Detectives caught up with Young and pursued west on Cairo Road. According to their subsequent account, Young allegedly began throwing large quantities of methamphetamine from the Honda while continuing west.
.
The pursuit continued into a less-populated area where traffic was sparse. As the vehicles approached the intersection with U.S. Highway 60, detectives reported slowing their pursuit in an attempt to decrease pressure on Young.
.
At approximately 1:45 p.m., Young approached U.S. 60 near the entrance to Barkley Regional Airport. Kentucky State Police determined that he entered the intersection against a red traffic signal and collided with an eastbound 2017 Ford Explorer driven by 60-year-old Deborah Kinsey Burge of Cunningham.
.
Burge was pronounced dead at the scene. Young suffered critical injuries and was airlifted to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville. He died early the following morning.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact immediately preceding the collision was reported. Public records located for this reconstruction do not provide a measured maximum speed, precise pursuit duration or distance, or the distance between Young and the detectives immediately before the collision. Detectives reported that they had slowed before reaching U.S. 60.
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Young was 27 and lived in De Soto, Illinois. The available public reporting focuses almost entirely on the drug investigation, pursuit and collision and does not provide sufficiently reliable information about his family, occupation or life outside the fatal encounter.
.
Kentucky State Police's Critical Incident Response Team and Post 1 Reconstruction Team investigated the fatal collision after the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office requested an independent crash investigation.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The McCracken County Sheriff’s Office drug detectives who attempted to arrest Young and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available reporting. Then-Chief Deputy Ryan Norman provided the sheriff’s office's detailed account of the drug investigation and pursuit but was not identified as one of the pursuing detectives. Norman became McCracken County sheriff in 2022.
.

https://www.marshallcountydaily.com/2021/08/03/mccracken-county-sheriffs-office-update-on-fatal-us60-collision/
https://www.wkyt.com/2021/08/02/2-dead-western-kentucky-crash-involving-police-pursuit/
https://www.kentuckystatepolice.ky.gov/news/p1-8-3-2021
https://www.kfvs12.com/2021/08/03/sheriff-driver-fleeing-detectives-led-deadly-crash-us-60-mccracken-co/
https://www.wtvq.com/two-people-killed-in-collision-during-police-chase/
https://www.radionwtn.com/2021/08/04/two-killed-after-kentucky-pursuit/

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Drug arrest following an alleged large methamphetamine delivery. McCracken County Sheriff’s Office drug detectives were conducting an investigation at a hotel in the 5100 block of Cairo Road and attempted to arrest a man they alleged had just delivered a large quantity of methamphetamine. Detectives attempted to prevent the Honda Civic from leaving the parking lot, but the driver maneuvered around them and continued west on Cairo Road. Detectives pursued.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/02/2021, 60-year-old Deborah “Debbie” Kinsey Burge of Cunningham was killed when a Honda Civic being pursued by McCracken County Sheriff’s Office drug detectives entered the intersection of Cairo Road and U.S. Highway 60 against a red light and crashed into the Ford Explorer she was driving. Burge was an uninvolved motorist with no connection to the drug investigation or pursuit.
.
The encounter began at a hotel in the 5100 block of Cairo Road, where McCracken County drug detectives were conducting an investigation involving the delivery of a large quantity of methamphetamine. Detectives attempted to arrest the person they believed had made the delivery and tried to prevent his Honda Civic from leaving the hotel parking lot. The driver maneuvered around the detectives and continued west on Cairo Road.
.
Detectives caught up with the Honda and pursued it west on Cairo Road. According to the sheriff’s office account, detectives reported seeing quantities of suspected methamphetamine being thrown from the Honda as it continued away from them.
.
The pursuit continued west through increasingly less-populated portions of Cairo Road. The sheriff’s office stated that traffic became sparse and that, as the vehicles approached U.S. 60, detectives deliberately slowed their pursuit in an attempt to reduce pressure on the Honda.
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A detective reported rounding the curve approaching U.S. 60 and seeing the Honda crash into Burge’s eastbound 2017 Ford Explorer near the entrance to Barkley Regional Airport. Kentucky State Police determined that the Honda entered the intersection without stopping for the traffic signal and struck Burge’s SUV.
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Detectives immediately stopped and rendered aid. Burge was pronounced dead at the scene by the McCracken County coroner. The Honda driver was critically injured and airlifted to Skyline Medical Center in Nashville, where he died early the following morning.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact immediately preceding the collision was reported. The available public reconstruction does not provide a measured maximum pursuit speed, precise duration or distance, or the following distance between the detectives and Honda when the collision occurred. The sheriff’s office affirmatively stated that detectives had slowed before reaching U.S. 60.
.
Debbie Burge had a life extending far beyond the intersection where she died. She had been a cosmetologist since 1983 and developed long-standing relationships with her clients. She and her husband Ronnie had been married for nearly 38 years and had one son and a granddaughter. Her family remembered her as a loving wife, mother, grandmother and friend who especially treasured time with her granddaughter.
.
Kentucky State Police's Critical Incident Response Team and Post 1 Reconstruction Team investigated the fatal collision at the request of the McCracken County Sheriff’s Office.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The McCracken County Sheriff’s Office drug detectives who attempted the arrest and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available reports. Then-Chief Deputy Ryan Norman issued the sheriff’s office's detailed public account of the incident but was not identified as a pursuing detective. Norman subsequently became McCracken County sheriff in 2022.

https://www.marshallcountydaily.com/2021/08/03/mccracken-county-sheriffs-office-update-on-fatal-us60-collision/
https://www.wkyt.com/2021/08/02/2-dead-western-kentucky-crash-involving-police-pursuit/
https://www.kentuckystatepolice.ky.gov/news/p1-8-3-2021
https://www.kfvs12.com/2021/08/03/sheriff-driver-fleeing-detectives-led-deadly-crash-us-60-mccracken-co/
https://www.wtvq.com/two-people-killed-in-collision-during-police-chase/
https://www.k105.com/2021/08/05/innocent-woman-suspect-killed-during-police-pursuit-near-paducah/
https://www.milnerandorr.com/obituaries/Deborah-Kinsey-Burge?obId=21923183

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. Newton County Sheriff’s Office deputies were pursuing a stolen Volkswagen Passat west on Interstate 20. At approximately 11:25 a.m., a Georgia State Patrol trooper joined the pursuit near Exit 88, and near mile marker 77 the trooper took over the chase from the sheriff’s deputies. The Volkswagen was driven by 30-year-old Ronreaco Wendell Bailey.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/01/2021, a 37-year-old woman was killed while riding in the right-rear seat of a stolen Volkswagen Passat pursued by Newton County sheriff’s deputies and a Georgia State Patrol trooper from Newton County into DeKalb County. She was a passenger and was not driving the vehicle.
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Newton County deputies were pursuing the Passat westbound on Interstate 20 near Exit 88 when a Georgia State Patrol trooper began assisting at approximately 11:25 a.m. Near mile marker 77, GSP said its trooper took over the pursuit.
.
Bailey exited I-20 at Turner Hill Road, drove through a red traffic signal and reentered westbound I-20. He subsequently exited I-20 again at Exit 74 and, according to GSP, entered the intersection at Evans Mill Road against another red traffic signal.
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The pursuit continued toward Lithonia Industrial Boulevard and Old Hillandale Drive. A Ford Super Duty truck towing a Ford Explorer was traveling south on Lithonia Industrial Boulevard as the Passat approached the intersection. The front of the Passat struck the left-front portion of the trailer carrying the Explorer, causing the Passat to overturn.
.
The 37-year-old woman riding in the right-rear seat of the Passat suffered fatal injuries and died at the scene. Bailey and front-seat passenger Jatina Banks, 31, suffered serious injuries and were transported by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital. The driver of the Ford truck suffered minor injuries and declined medical treatment.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact immediately preceding the fatal collision is identified in the available public reporting. The surviving accounts also do not provide a measured maximum speed, exact pursuit duration, total pursuit distance, following distance between the trooper and Passat at the time of the collision, or whether supervisors considered terminating the pursuit.
.
The original Georgia State Patrol account withheld the deceased woman's identity pending notification of her family. Her full name has not been reliably established in the public material located for this reconstruction. The absence of a confirmed identity also prevents reliable biographical information about her family, work and life from being included.
.
Bailey survived the catastrophic crash but remained hospitalized for an extraordinarily long period. He was not booked into the DeKalb County Jail until August 2025, approximately four years after the collision. The later case was filed under his full name, Ronreaco Wendell Bailey. Court records show the criminal prosecution continuing into 2026 under DeKalb County Superior Court case number 25CR4257.
.
Bailey was booked on charges that included felony murder arising from the fatal pursuit crash. The four-year delay between the crash and his booking was attributed in later reporting to his hospitalization rather than authorities abandoning the case.
.
Public court records also show that Bailey had prior Georgia criminal cases before the fatal pursuit. Morgan County Superior Court records show a 2018 prosecution charging him with three counts of theft by taking. These prior allegations are not identified as the reason for the 2021 pursuit and therefore do not alter the documented initiating reason for the chase: the stolen Volkswagen.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Newton County Sheriff’s Office deputies who initially pursued the stolen Volkswagen and the Georgia State Patrol trooper who subsequently took over the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available reporting. Because no pursuing officer has been reliably identified, no individual officer disciplinary, use-of-force, shooting or prior-pursuit history can be attributed to this case.

https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/1-dead-following-police-pursuit-of-stolen-vehicle/85-c53057e3-db64-44d2-b2ea-04db2b236520
https://www.11alive.com/article/news/crime/suspect-in-2021-police-chase-crash-booked-four-years-later-hospitalization/85-56f924fd-c42b-46fb-b885-44deeab098f4
https://www.ajc.com/news/police-woman-37-killed-in-crash-when-car-flees-deputies-troopers/TDRZDIQMNVB3TPQ4YINOCRYTT4/
https://dekalbgasuperiorcourt.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/9AM-PT-NAME-LIST-02.10.25.pdf

.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/01/2021, 55-year-old Julius Filep of Edison was killed when East Brunswick Police Department Patrolman Mitchell Ngai struck him with a marked police vehicle on Route 18 while Ngai was responding to an earlier serious crash and electrical fire. Filep was outside his disabled vehicle following the first collision and was standing in the northbound roadway near the concrete median when Ngai struck him.
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The events began shortly before 3:35 a.m. with an unrelated crash on Route 18. A vehicle struck a utility pole, knocking the pole and electrical wires into the highway. Multiple vehicles subsequently became disabled after encountering debris. On the southbound side, another vehicle and an 18-wheel truck drove over the downed wires, causing electrical arcing and fire.
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Filep was one of the motorists affected by the original crash. He and others called 911. East Brunswick officers were dispatched to the scene with information that there had been a crash and that electrical wires were down.
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Ngai was on duty, in uniform and driving a marked East Brunswick police vehicle. Because of his location when he received the emergency call, he approached the incident traveling northbound on Route 18. He arrived in the area approximately five minutes after the initial collision.
.
At that time, Filep was standing in the left northbound lane near the concrete median. Investigators reported that he was wearing a black shirt and black shorts and that this portion of Route 18 was not illuminated by streetlights. An active electrical fire was burning on the opposite side of the highway.
.
Ngai's police vehicle first struck a wooden utility pole that had been knocked into the roadway during the original crash. His vehicle then struck Filep before continuing into one of the vehicles disabled by the earlier collision.
.
Emergency personnel rendered medical aid to Filep and transported him by ambulance to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital. He was pronounced dead at 4:13 a.m.
.
The New Jersey Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability assumed the investigation because Filep's death resulted from an encounter with an on-duty law-enforcement officer. Investigators collected and reviewed witness statements, video from a nearby business, citizen dash-camera footage, the event-data recorder from Ngai's police vehicle, multiple 911 calls, police radio transmissions and Filep's autopsy findings.
.
On 09/16/2021, the Attorney General's Office publicly released private-security video and audio from 911 and police radio communications concerning the fatal collision. Before releasing the recordings, investigators met with Filep's family and their attorney to review the material.
.
The completed investigation was presented to a New Jersey state grand jury. On 07/24/2023, the grand jury returned a no bill and determined that no criminal charges should be filed against Ngai.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Patrolman Mitchell Ngai of the East Brunswick Police Department was identified by the New Jersey Attorney General as the officer driving the marked patrol vehicle that struck and killed Julius Filep. The fatal collision underwent an independent state investigation and grand-jury review. On 07/24/2023, the grand jury declined to criminally charge Ngai.

https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2021/08/pedestrian-hit-killed-by-east-brunswick-police-officer-during-response-to-call.html
https://www.mycentraljersey.com/story/news/2021/08/02/pedestrian-struck-and-killed-east-brunswick-police-car-route-18/5461842001/
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/east-brunswick/sections/police-and-fire/articles/east-brunswick-police-vehicle-involved-in-fatal-pedestrian-crash-on-route-18
https://www.njoag.gov/updated-attorney-generals-office-investigating-fatal-accident-in-which-police-vehicle-struck-pedestrian-in-east-brunswick/
https://www.njoag.gov/ags-office-releases-video-and-audio-recordings-related-to-fatal-incident-in-which-police-vehicle-struck-pedestrian-in-east-brunswick-on-august-1-2021/
https://www.njoag.gov/update-state-grand-jury-declines-to-criminally-charge-officer-who-struck-a-motorist-outside-of-a-disabled-vehicle-while-responding-to-a-multiple-car-accident-and-fire-in-east-brunswick/

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Traffic violations and suspected impaired driving. At approximately 4:08 a.m., Celina Police Department officers observed Chad R. Rammel driving a blue 2004 Acura south on Brandon Avenue and saw him travel through a stop sign without stopping. Officers followed and reported that the Acura was swerving in the roadway. After Rammel turned onto Market Street, officers activated their emergency lights and attempted a traffic stop. When he continued west, officers activated their siren and pursued.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/31/2021, 33-year-old Chad R. Rammel of Celina was killed when his 2004 Acura crashed approximately five minutes after Celina police attempted to stop him for running a stop sign and swerving. Police pursued briefly but terminated the chase when Rammel accelerated to more than 95 mph. He continued driving after officers discontinued the pursuit and subsequently crashed on Mud Pike Road near State Route 118.
.
At approximately 4:08 a.m., Celina officers observed Rammel traveling south on Brandon Avenue. Police reported that he drove through a stop sign without stopping and then swerved while continuing along the roadway. Officers initially followed the Acura rather than immediately initiating a pursuit.
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Rammel turned onto Market Street. Officers activated their emergency lights to signal him to stop. When he continued westbound, officers activated a siren. Police reported that Rammel then accelerated to speeds exceeding 95 mph.
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Celina officers discontinued all efforts to stop Rammel because of the speed. The department stated that terminating the pursuit was required by Celina Police Department policy under the circumstances. This was therefore a terminated pursuit rather than a continuous police chase extending to the crash scene.
.
At approximately 4:13 a.m., about five minutes after officers first observed the Acura, Mercer County Central Dispatch received a report of a crash on Mud Pike Road at State Route 118 outside Celina. Ohio State Highway Patrol and Mercer County Sheriff's Office personnel responded.
.
Ohio State Highway Patrol determined that Rammel's Acura traveled off the roadway, struck a tree and a fence, overturned and then struck an SUV parked in a driveway. Rammel was found dead at the scene.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported. Police specifically stated that officers had discontinued their effort to stop Rammel before the collision. The publicly available accounts establish that Rammel exceeded 95 mph during the police pursuit but do not provide his speed at impact, the precise point where officers terminated the pursuit, the distance from that point to the crash scene, or the elapsed time between termination and collision.
.
Ohio State Highway Patrol's Wapakoneta Post investigated the fatal collision because the crash occurred outside Celina city limits. The Mercer County Sheriff's Office also responded to the scene.
.
Rammel was born on 08/09/1987 in Coldwater and graduated from Celina High School in 2005. He was married to Nicole Rammel and was a father of four. He worked as a self-employed CAD programmer and for EDC Machining. His family remembered him as an outdoorsman and “grill master” who enjoyed fishing, camping, kayaking, bicycling, RC-car racing, longboarding and building computers.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Celina Police Department officers who attempted to stop and briefly pursued Chad Rammel have not been publicly identified in the sources located for this reconstruction.

https://mercercountyoutlook.net/2021/07/31/celina-man-dies-in-crash-after-police-had-already-aborted-chase/
https://www.dailystandard.com/archive/2021-08-02/stories/43446/1-dead-in-crash-after-cop-chase
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/chad-rammel-obituary?id=6206488
https://www.ciscofuneralhome.com/obituaries/chad-rammel

.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/31/2021, an unidentified civilian driver was killed in a head-on collision with an on-duty U.S. Border Patrol vehicle driven by Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Daniel P. Cox on State Route 86 near Milepost 128 outside Sells, Arizona. The civilian was the sole person in the vehicle. Cox was also killed.
.
The collision occurred at approximately 12:20 a.m. on State Route 86 on the Tohono O'odham Reservation, approximately 60 miles southwest of Tucson. Cox was working in the Tucson Sector and was returning toward Tucson after working on the Tohono O'odham Reservation.
.
Cox's Border Patrol vehicle and the civilian vehicle collided head-on. Multiple emergency-response agencies, including an air-medical helicopter, responded. Cox and the civilian driver were pronounced dead shortly after the collision. No passengers were reported in either vehicle.
.
Contemporary Border Patrol and news accounts released few details explaining how the vehicles came to collide. Later Border Patrol memorial material states that the civilian vehicle crossed the center line and struck Cox's Border Patrol vehicle head-on and describes the civilian driver as intoxicated. That information was not included in the initial public account and should therefore be attributed to the later Border Patrol account rather than stated as an independently established fact.
.
The Tohono O'odham Police Department investigated the fatal collision. Tohono O'odham Nation Chairman Ned Norris Jr. publicly acknowledged that two people had died and offered condolences to both families.
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The civilian driver's name, age and biographical information were not disclosed in the contemporary reporting located for this reconstruction. The ACLU's subsequent CBP Fatal Encounters Tracker likewise records the civilian as an unidentified adult and does not supply a name.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Daniel Paul Cox was a Supervisory Border Patrol Agent assigned to the Tucson Sector and a member of Border Patrol Search, Trauma, and Rescue, or BORSTAR. He entered the Border Patrol on 07/28/1997 and had served approximately 24 years. Cox was 52 and a U.S. Army veteran. He was returning toward Tucson from work on the Tohono O'odham Reservation when the fatal collision occurred.

https://www.fox10phoenix.com/news/border-patrol-agent-2nd-driver-killed-in-crash-in-arizona
https://www.kold.com/2021/07/31/border-patrol-agent-dies-car-crash/
https://arizonadailyindependent.com/2021/07/31/tucson-sector-border-patrol-agent-killed-in-head-on-collision/
https://www.univision.com/local/arizona-ktvw/muere-daniel-cox-agente-de-la-patrulla-fronteriza-en-accidente-vehicular-en-arizona
https://www.odmp.org/search?filter=nok9&from=2021&state=Arizona&to=2021
https://www.aclutx.org/sites/default/files/field_documents/cbp_fatal_encounters_details_-_06072022.pdf
https://www.honorfirst.com/us-border-patrol-fallen.html

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST unit officers encountered a 2019 Nissan Rogue that had been stolen from Rapids Water Park earlier that afternoon. Fourteen-year-old Jay’Oni Leonard was a passenger in the SUV. Officers attempted to stop the vehicle, which was driven by 17-year-old Christopher Garrett Jr., and Sterk and Stripling pursued it north on Beeline Highway.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, 14-year-old Jay’Oni Leonard was killed while riding as a passenger in a stolen Nissan Rogue that crashed after West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers pursued it north on Beeline Highway. Seventeen-year-old passenger Alexia Simpson and uninvolved motorists Elizabeth Anderson and George Nienhouse were also killed.
.
West Palm Beach GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling attempted to stop the Nissan and pursued it north on Beeline Highway. Detective Pierre Etienne reported that he was approximately six to eight cars behind Sterk and Stripling and became stuck in traffic. Etienne said he did not activate his emergency lights or body camera during the attempted stop.
.
Sterk and Stripling later reported that at approximately 4:05 p.m., roughly one minute after initiating the pursuit, they discontinued it at Northlake Boulevard. That location was approximately 3½ miles south of the eventual crash scene. They said they stopped there and notified other officers.
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Later-obtained body-camera evidence raised questions about that account. At the crash scene, Stripling told another officer, “We followed it down just to make sure it was out of the area,” and said they then encountered the crash. WLRN reported in 2026 that this statement was inconsistent with the officers' written accounts that they had remained at Northlake Boulevard after terminating the pursuit.
.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office, which investigated the fatal collision, maintained that evidence showed the formal pursuit ended at Northlake Boulevard and Beeline Highway. No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks or police-vehicle contact with the Nissan was identified.
.
Garrett continued north on Beeline Highway toward PGA Boulevard. Crash investigators subsequently determined that he was traveling approximately 98 mph immediately before the collision. Later criminal-case reporting described his speed as exceeding 100 mph during the events preceding the crash.
.
At approximately 4:09 p.m., Garrett entered the intersection of Beeline Highway and PGA Boulevard against a red traffic signal. His Nissan struck the left side of a 2010 Nissan Xterra driven by 62-year-old Elizabeth Anderson. Anderson's passenger was 65-year-old George Nienhouse.
.
The impact caused Anderson to lose control of the Xterra and be ejected. Anderson and Nienhouse were pronounced dead at the scene. Jay’Oni was also pronounced dead at the scene. Alexia Simpson was transported to a hospital, where she died. Garrett survived with critical injuries.
.
Jay’Oni was only 14 years old and was living in foster care in the West Palm Beach area. Garrett and Alexia were also foster youths, although the three teenagers lived in different foster homes.
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Investigators subsequently determined that Garrett had Delta-9 THC in his blood. That finding was developed after the collision and was not the reason police initiated the pursuit; police became involved because the Nissan had been reported stolen.
.
Garrett was prosecuted as an adult. He ultimately pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of grand theft. On 05/12/2022, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors dropped four DUI-manslaughter counts and four counts involving driving without a valid license causing death or serious injury as part of the disposition.
.
The police role in the pursuit received renewed scrutiny years later. WLRN obtained police records and body-camera footage and reported in January 2026 that the GHOST unit's involvement in the fatal pursuit had not previously been publicly disclosed in detail. The records identified Sterk and Stripling as the officers conducting the pursuit and Etienne as following behind.
.
The reporting also found that West Palm Beach Police Department had no written objectives, training manuals or unit-specific policies for GHOST, a specialized Gang and Habitual Offender Suppression Team operating with unmarked vehicles and a separate radio channel.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling pursued the Nissan. Pierre Etienne was following behind and arrived at the fatal crash approximately one minute after the first 911 call. Etienne reported that he had been stuck six to eight cars behind the other officers and had not activated his emergency lights or body camera.
.
Etienne subsequently became involved in another fatal West Palm Beach police pursuit on 07/30/2024, exactly three years after Jay’Oni's death. That pursuit ended with uninvolved motorists Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter Jenice Woods being killed. In 2025, Etienne and six other West Palm Beach officers were criminally charged in connection with their conduct surrounding that later pursuit. Etienne was charged with two felony counts of leaving the scene of a crash involving death and official misconduct. The charges are allegations and remain distinct from the 2021 case.
.
DISPOSITION:
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal West Palm Beach police pursuit had terminated at Northlake Boulevard approximately 3½ miles before the fatal collision. No criminal charges against Sterk, Stripling or Etienne resulted from the 2021 pursuit. Subsequent body-camera evidence and investigative reporting raised questions about whether officers continued following Garrett after the point at which they reported terminating the pursuit.
.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/teen-charged-speeding-crash-killed-4/67-79b998ee-173e-4255-905f-73e6fa879fb0
https://www.wptv.com/news/crime/christopher-garrett-jr-charged-as-adult-in-crash-that-killed-4-on-beeline-highway
https://www.wpbf.com/article/deadly-crash-shuts-down-beeline-highway-near-pga-boulevard/37184576
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/judge-rejects-plea-deal-deadly-palm-beach-crash/
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-01-16/revealed-cops-in-south-florida-elite-ghost-unit-left-a-trail-of-red-flags-before-deadly-chase
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-07-08/lawsuit-west-palm-beach-ghost-chases-wlrn-investigation

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers encountered a stolen 2019 Nissan Rogue driven by 17-year-old Christopher Garrett Jr. The Nissan had been stolen after Garrett and two friends left a foster-care group outing at Rapids Water Park and took a patron’s purse containing the vehicle's key fob. Police had information that the three missing teenagers were in the stolen, previously unoccupied vehicle. GHOST officers attempted to stop the Nissan near Beeline Highway and Jog Road, and officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling pursued when Garrett continued driving away.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, 17-year-old Alexia Simpson was killed while riding as a passenger in a stolen Nissan Rogue pursued by West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers. Fourteen-year-old passenger Jay’Oni Leonard and uninvolved motorists Elizabeth Anderson and George Nienhouse were also killed. Garrett survived with critical injuries.
.
Alexia, Garrett and Jay’Oni were teenagers living in foster care in the West Palm Beach area. They lived in different foster homes. Earlier that day, Garrett had left a group-home outing at Rapids Water Park with the two girls. The Nissan they subsequently entered had been reported stolen, and Riviera Beach police circulated information concerning the missing teenagers and stolen vehicle.
.
West Palm Beach GHOST officers located and conducted surveillance of the Nissan. Sterk and Stripling activated their emergency equipment and attempted a traffic stop near Beeline Highway and Jog Road. Garrett continued driving north and the officers pursued. Detective Pierre Etienne followed farther behind the two officers.
.
Sterk and Stripling subsequently reported that they terminated the pursuit at approximately 4:05 p.m. near Northlake Boulevard, about one minute after it began and approximately 3½ miles south of the eventual crash. They reported remaining at Northlake Boulevard after discontinuing the pursuit.
.
Evidence obtained years later raised questions about that account. Body-camera footage recorded Stripling at the fatal crash scene telling another officer that police had “followed it down” to make sure the Nissan was out of the area before encountering the crash. WLRN reported in 2026 that the statement was inconsistent with written accounts indicating the officers remained at Northlake Boulevard after terminating the pursuit.
.
The Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office nevertheless concluded from its investigation that the formal pursuit ended at Northlake Boulevard and Beeline Highway. No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact with the Nissan was identified.
.
Garrett continued north toward PGA Boulevard at extremely high speed. Investigators determined that he entered the intersection against a red traffic signal while traveling at approximately 100 mph or more.
.
The Nissan struck the left side of a 2010 Nissan Xterra driven by 62-year-old Elizabeth Anderson. The impact caused Anderson to lose control and be ejected. Anderson and her passenger, 65-year-old George Nienhouse, died at the scene.
.
Jay’Oni was also pronounced dead at the scene. Alexia survived the initial impact and was transported to a hospital, where she died from her injuries. Garrett survived and was initially hospitalized in critical condition.
.
Alexia was only 17 and was living in foster care when she died. ChildNet, the foster-care placement organization, confirmed that Alexia, Jay’Oni and Garrett were foster youths but lived in separate foster homes. Alexia's death therefore ended the life of a teenager who was already navigating the foster-care system, not merely an unnamed passenger in Garrett's vehicle.
.
Investigators later reported that toxicology testing found Delta-9 THC in Garrett's blood. That evidence was developed after the crash and was not the reason West Palm Beach police initiated the attempted stop; police pursued because the Nissan had been reported stolen.
.
Garrett was prosecuted as an adult. A judge rejected an initial plea agreement calling for a 10-year prison term, stating that the proposed punishment was inadequate given the four deaths. Garrett subsequently pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of grand theft and was sentenced on 05/12/2022 to 15 years in prison. Prosecutors dropped the DUI-manslaughter and other counts under the plea agreement.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling conducted the pursuit. Detective Pierre Etienne followed behind them. Records obtained by WLRN in 2026 showed that the specialized GHOST unit operated with unmarked vehicles and a separate radio channel and lacked written unit-specific objectives, training manuals and policies.
.
Etienne subsequently became involved in another fatal West Palm Beach police pursuit on 07/30/2024, exactly three years after Alexia's death. That pursuit killed uninvolved motorists Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter Jenice Woods. Etienne and other officers were subsequently criminally charged over conduct associated with that later case. Those charges concern the separate 2024 incident and do not establish criminal wrongdoing by Etienne in Alexia's death.
.
DISPOSITION:
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal police pursuit ended approximately 3½ miles before the fatal collision. No officers were criminally charged over the 2021 pursuit. Later body-camera evidence and investigative reporting raised questions about whether GHOST officers nevertheless continued following the Nissan after the point where they reported terminating the pursuit. Garrett pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and grand theft and received a 15-year prison sentence.
.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/teen-charged-speeding-crash-killed-4/67-79b998ee-173e-4255-905f-73e6fa879fb0
https://www.wpbf.com/article/deadly-crash-shuts-down-beeline-highway-near-pga-boulevard/37184576
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/article254256933.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/miami/news/judge-rejects-plea-deal-deadly-palm-beach-crash/
https://www.wptv.com/news/crime/christopher-garrett-jr-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison-for-fatal-beeline-highway-crash
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-01-16/revealed-cops-in-south-florida-elite-ghost-unit-left-a-trail-of-red-flags-before-deadly-chase

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers attempted to stop a stolen Nissan Rogue driven by 17-year-old Christopher Garrett Jr. near Beeline Highway and Jog Road. Officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling pursued the Nissan north on Beeline Highway. George Nienhouse was an uninvolved passenger in another vehicle and had no connection to the stolen Nissan or its occupants.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, 65-year-old George John Nienhouse Jr. was killed while riding as a passenger in a Nissan Xterra driven by 62-year-old Elizabeth Anderson when a stolen Nissan Rogue that West Palm Beach police had pursued crashed into their vehicle at Beeline Highway and PGA Boulevard. Anderson, teenage passengers Alexia Simpson and Jay’Oni Leonard, and Nienhouse were all killed.
.
Sterk and Stripling pursued Garrett north after attempting to stop the stolen Nissan. Detective Pierre Etienne followed farther behind. Sterk and Stripling subsequently reported that they terminated the pursuit near Northlake Boulevard approximately 3½ miles before the eventual crash.
.
Body-camera evidence obtained years later raised questions about whether their involvement actually ended there. At the fatal crash scene, Stripling told another officer that they had followed the Nissan farther north to ensure it was out of the area. WLRN reported that the statement conflicted with the officers' written accounts of remaining at Northlake Boulevard.
.
Garrett continued north on Beeline Highway at extremely high speed. At PGA Boulevard, investigators determined that he entered the intersection against a red light at approximately 100 mph or more and struck the left side of the Xterra in which Nienhouse was riding.
.
The impact caused Anderson to lose control and be ejected. Anderson and Nienhouse were pronounced dead at the scene. Jay’Oni was also pronounced dead there, while Alexia was transported to a hospital and subsequently died.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact with Garrett's Nissan was identified. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal police pursuit had ended before the collision.
.
George was born on 03/14/1956 and was 65 when he died. His obituary describes a deeply involved father and grandfather who left behind a daughter, a son and five granddaughters who adored him. He was regarded as the patriarch of his family.
.
His family remembered a man with a big personality and a strong sense of humor: someone famous among them for his stories, porch time, unconventional gifts, unfiltered comments and contagious laugh. He loved the outdoors and adventure and was remembered as dependable, principled and willing to guide younger men. His obituary described him as someone who knew how to balance life's responsibilities with family, friendship and enjoyment.
.
Garrett was prosecuted as an adult for the four deaths. He ultimately pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of grand theft. On 05/12/2022, he was sentenced to 15 years in prison.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
West Palm Beach GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling conducted the pursuit, with Detective Pierre Etienne following behind. Subsequent investigative reporting found that the specialized GHOST unit operated using unmarked vehicles and a separate radio channel without written unit-specific objectives, training manuals or policies.
.
Etienne subsequently became involved in a separate fatal West Palm Beach pursuit on 07/30/2024 that killed uninvolved motorists Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter Jenice Woods and later resulted in criminal charges against Etienne and other officers. Those allegations concern the later pursuit and do not establish wrongdoing in Nienhouse's case.
.
DISPOSITION:
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal police pursuit terminated near Northlake Boulevard approximately 3½ miles before the fatal collision. No officer was criminally charged over the 2021 pursuit. Later body-camera evidence raised questions about whether GHOST officers continued following Garrett after their stated termination point. Garrett pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and grand theft and was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/teen-charged-speeding-crash-killed-4/67-79b998ee-173e-4255-905f-73e6fa879fb0
https://www.wpbf.com/article/deadly-crash-shuts-down-beeline-highway-near-pga-boulevard/37184576
https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/elizabeth-anderson-pbso-employee-killed-in-crash
https://www.pbcpba.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FLC_SUMMER21.pdf
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-01-16/revealed-cops-in-south-florida-elite-ghost-unit-left-a-trail-of-red-flags-before-deadly-chase
https://www.wptv.com/news/crime/christopher-garrett-jr-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison-for-fatal-beeline-highway-crash

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. West Palm Beach Police Department GHOST officers attempted to stop a stolen Nissan Rogue driven by 17-year-old Christopher Garrett Jr. near Beeline Highway and Jog Road. Officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling pursued when Garrett continued north. Anderson had no connection to the stolen vehicle, its occupants or the police pursuit.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, 62-year-old Elizabeth “Beth” Anderson was killed when a stolen Nissan Rogue that West Palm Beach police had pursued crashed into her Nissan Xterra at Beeline Highway and PGA Boulevard. Anderson was an uninvolved motorist. Her passenger, 65-year-old George Nienhouse, and two teenage passengers in the pursued Nissan, Alexia Simpson and Jay’Oni Leonard, were also killed.
.
Sterk and Stripling attempted to stop the Nissan near Beeline Highway and Jog Road and pursued Garrett north. Detective Pierre Etienne followed farther behind. The officers knew the Nissan had been reported stolen and had received information concerning the teenagers traveling in it.
.
Sterk and Stripling later reported terminating the pursuit at Northlake Boulevard at approximately 4:05 p.m., about 3½ miles before the fatal collision. Later-released body-camera footage complicated that account because Stripling told another officer at the crash scene that they had followed the Nissan farther north to make sure it left the area.
.
At approximately 4:09 p.m., Garrett approached PGA Boulevard at approximately 100 mph or more and entered the intersection against a red traffic signal. Anderson was driving a 2010 Nissan Xterra through the intersection when Garrett's Nissan struck its left side.
.
The violent impact caused Anderson to lose control of the Xterra and ejected her. Anderson and Nienhouse were pronounced dead at the scene.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or police-vehicle collision with Garrett's Nissan was identified. Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal police pursuit had ended at Northlake Boulevard before the crash, although subsequent body-camera evidence raised questions about whether the officers continued following the Nissan afterward.
.
Beth Anderson was not simply an anonymous motorist caught in the path of the pursuit. She had worked for the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for 25 years as a warrant specialist and had recently entered the agency's Deferred Retirement Option Program. Her death therefore struck the same sheriff's office that was tasked with investigating the fatal collision.
.
Coworkers remembered Anderson for an unusually cheerful personality. She loved music and karaoke and was known around PBSO for giving coworkers nicknames and doing small things to brighten their days. A memorial published by the Palm Beach County Police Benevolent Association described her as someone whose happiness and warmth were immediately recognizable to the people who worked with her.
.
Anderson was also the mother of WPTV assistant chief engineer Tom Anderson. Her death therefore affected both the Palm Beach County law-enforcement community in which she had spent a quarter-century working and the local television station whose staff subsequently reported on the crash.
.
Garrett was prosecuted as an adult. He ultimately pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular homicide and one count of grand theft. On 05/12/2022, a judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison after previously rejecting a proposed 10-year plea agreement as too lenient given the four deaths.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
West Palm Beach GHOST officers Neil Sterk and Casey Stripling conducted the pursuit, with Detective Pierre Etienne following behind. Subsequent investigative reporting found that GHOST operated as a specialized unit using unmarked vehicles and a separate radio channel but lacked written unit-specific objectives, training manuals and policies.
.
Etienne subsequently became involved in the separate 07/30/2024 West Palm Beach pursuit that killed Marcia Pochette and her pregnant daughter Jenice Woods and later resulted in criminal charges against Etienne and other officers. Those allegations concern the later case and are not findings concerning Anderson's death.
.
DISPOSITION:
Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office investigators concluded that the formal pursuit ended at Northlake Boulevard approximately 3½ miles before Anderson was killed. No law-enforcement officer was criminally charged in connection with the 2021 pursuit. Subsequent body-camera evidence raised questions about whether the GHOST officers continued following Garrett farther north after their reported termination point. Garrett received a 15-year prison sentence for four counts of vehicular homicide and grand theft.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/regional/florida/teen-charged-speeding-crash-killed-4/67-79b998ee-173e-4255-905f-73e6fa879fb0
https://www.wpbf.com/article/deadly-crash-shuts-down-beeline-highway-near-pga-boulevard/37184576
https://www.wptv.com/news/region-c-palm-beach-county/elizabeth-anderson-pbso-employee-killed-in-crash
https://www.pbcpba.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/FLC_SUMMER21.pdf
https://www.wlrn.org/wlrn-investigations/2026-01-16/revealed-cops-in-south-florida-elite-ghost-unit-left-a-trail-of-red-flags-before-deadly-chase
https://www.wptv.com/news/crime/christopher-garrett-jr-sentenced-to-15-years-in-prison-for-fatal-beeline-highway-crash

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Expired vehicle registration. Amador County sheriff’s deputies had initially been called to Overland Drive after a resident reported a man who had allegedly previously attempted to steal a vehicle from the property and was suspected of casing the residence. The man was gone when deputies arrived. At approximately 7:23 p.m., a female deputy located a vehicle matching the description and attempted a traffic stop specifically because its registration was expired. The driver continued driving away after she activated her emergency lights and siren, and the deputy pursued.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, an unidentified man was killed when his vehicle left the roadway, struck a utility pole and caught fire during an approximately three-minute Amador County Sheriff’s Office pursuit near Pioneer. Firefighters extinguished the vehicle and resulting vegetation fire and found the driver dead inside.
.
The encounter began when deputies responded to the Overland Drive area in Pioneer following a suspicious-person report. According to the sheriff’s office, a resident reported that a man who had allegedly previously attempted to steal a vehicle from the property had returned and might have been casing the residence. The man had left before deputies arrived, but deputies obtained a detailed description of both him and his vehicle.
.
At approximately 7:23 p.m., a female sheriff’s deputy located a vehicle matching that description. Although the earlier suspicious-person complaint was why deputies were looking for the vehicle, the sheriff’s office stated that the deputy attempted the traffic stop based on the vehicle’s expired registration. She activated her emergency lights and siren. The driver continued driving away and the deputy pursued.
.
The pursuit lasted approximately three minutes. According to the sheriff’s office, the driver crossed the double-yellow center lines into the opposing lane during the pursuit. Police reported that he then appeared to overcorrect, causing the vehicle to leave the roadway.
.
The vehicle struck a utility pole and immediately became engulfed in flames. The burning vehicle ignited surrounding vegetation, creating a secondary fire at the crash scene. Firefighters responded, extinguished the fires and discovered the driver dead inside the vehicle.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, spike strips, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact is reported in the available account. The sheriff’s office disclosed the pursuit’s approximate three-minute duration but did not provide a measured maximum speed, the deputy’s speed, the precise distance traveled, the following distance immediately before the crash, or evidence that a supervisor ordered the pursuit terminated.
.
The California Highway Patrol Major Accident Investigation Team took responsibility for investigating the fatal crash rather than leaving the crash reconstruction solely to the Amador County Sheriff’s Office.
.
The deceased man’s identity was initially withheld pending positive identification and notification of his family. The surviving public reporting located for this reconstruction does not establish a subsequently released name, preventing reliable biographical information about his life and family from being included.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The female Amador County sheriff’s deputy who initiated and conducted the approximately three-minute pursuit has not been publicly identified in the available reporting. Sheriff Gary Redman had taken command of the Amador County Sheriff’s Office in April 2021, several months before the fatal pursuit, but he was not identified as participating in the encounter.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/crime/article253169293.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/gooddaysacramento/news/man-dies-following-amador-county-sheriff-pursuit/
https://www.cbsnews.com/sacramento/news/man-dies-following-amador-county-sheriff-pursuit/

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Vehicle believed connected to a reported shooting. At approximately 2:30 a.m., Brooklyn Police Department officers responded to the Tavern on Biddulph at 7104 Biddulph Road after receiving a report of shots fired. Officers found spent shell casings, and witnesses provided a description of a white Nissan believed connected to the gunfire. Officers later located the Nissan near Ridge Road and Associate Avenue and conducted a traffic stop. The driver initially stopped, then drove away at high speed, and Brooklyn police pursued north on Ridge Road toward Cleveland.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/30/2021, a 33-year-old woman was killed while riding as a passenger in a white Nissan pursued by Brooklyn Police Department officers from Brooklyn into Cleveland following a shooting investigation. The driver lost control near Denison Avenue and West 73rd Street, and the Nissan overturned. Both the woman and the driver were ejected.
.
The police encounter began approximately 30 minutes earlier at the Tavern on Biddulph, where Brooklyn officers responded to reports of gunfire. Officers recovered shell casings, and witnesses described a white Nissan believed to have been involved. Police later located a Nissan matching that description and stopped it on Ridge Road near Associate Avenue.
.
Police said the 32-year-old driver initially complied with the stop but then drove away at high speed. Brooklyn officers pursued north on Ridge Road toward Cleveland. Public reporting does not provide a measured maximum speed, exact pursuit distance, precise duration, or the number of Brooklyn police vehicles involved.
.
At approximately 3:00 a.m., the Nissan reached the Denison Avenue area. Police said the driver lost control, struck a concrete barrier and overturned near West 73rd Street. Both people inside were ejected from the vehicle.
.
The 33-year-old passenger was pronounced dead at the scene. Officers pulled the critically injured driver from the wreckage and extinguished a fire involving the Nissan. Cleveland EMS transported the driver to MetroHealth Medical Center.
.
Brooklyn police subsequently reported recovering a firearm from the wreckage. Police said the firearm's caliber matched the spent shell casings recovered from the Tavern on Biddulph. The weapon was recovered after the fatal crash; the available reporting does not establish that the deceased passenger fired the weapon or participated in the earlier shooting.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact immediately before the crash was reported. Available public accounts also do not establish whether the pursuit was formally terminated before the Nissan overturned or whether a supervisor ordered or approved continuation of the chase.
.
The Cleveland Division of Police investigated the fatal crash because the collision occurred within Cleveland. Brooklyn Police Department continued investigating the original shots-fired incident. Brooklyn Police Chief Scott Mielke publicly confirmed the basic pursuit chronology.
.
The deceased woman was recorded contemporaneously as a 33-year-old passenger. Fatal Encounters also records the fatality as the female passenger killed during the Brooklyn police pursuit. Her full name was not publicly provided in the available contemporary reporting.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Brooklyn Police Department officers who stopped the Nissan and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available news reports or indexed public records.

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/local-news/1-person-dies-in-crash-on-denison-avenue-in-cleveland
https://www.cleveland19.com/2021/07/30/one-person-dead-following-police-chase-that-ends-cleveland/
https://fatalencounters.org/view/person-csv/csv/?pagenum=62

REASON FOR CHASE: Bernice police pursued Brazzel after attempting a traffic stop for an undisclosed traffic violation.
.
NARRATIVE:
On 07/28/2021, 20-year-old Tyler Dewayne Brazzel of Bernice was killed when his 2000 Dodge Ram crashed during a Bernice Police Department pursuit in Lincoln Parish, Louisiana.
.
Shortly before 9:00 p.m., Bernice police attempted to stop Brazzel for a traffic violation. Brazzel continued south on U.S. Highway 167 at high speed while police pursued him.
.
Brazzel turned onto Forsythe Road east of U.S. 167 and lost control of the Dodge Ram. The truck overturned and Brazzel, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
.
A passenger riding in the Dodge Ram was properly restrained and survived without reported injuries. Louisiana State Police Troop F investigated the fatal crash. Toxicology samples were collected after investigators reported suspected impairment.
.
Brazzel's funeral was held on 07/31/2021 at Fellowship Baptist Church in Dubach, followed by burial at Corinth Cemetery. Earlier family records identify his parents as Joe and Loretta Brazzel and show that Tyler had grown up in the Dubach area.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Bernice Police Department officer who initiated and participated in the pursuit was not publicly identified in the reporting located.

https://lincolnparishjournal.com/2021/07/30/fleeing-driver-dies-in-lincoln-parish-crash-impairment-suspected/
https://www.knoe.com/2021/07/29/lsp-fleeing-driver-dies-lincoln-parish-crash-impairment-suspected/
https://www.wbrz.com/news/state-police-fleeing-driver-killed-in-lincoln-parish-crash-impairment-suspected
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/tyler-brazzel-memorial?id=6197613

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle and gunfire directed at police. At approximately 8:30 p.m., Keizer Police Department officers responded to a report of a suspicious Nissan Xterra parked behind VCA Keizer Veterinary Hospital at 4815 River Road North. Officers confirmed that the Xterra had been reported stolen earlier that day and saw a man later identified as Sean K. Beck with a handgun on his hip. According to prosecutors, Beck entered the driver's seat, police repeatedly ordered him to surrender, and Beck opened fire toward officers. Five Keizer officers returned fire, striking Beck multiple times. Beck then drove south on River Road while Keizer police pursued with emergency lights and sirens.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/28/2021, 64-year-old Becky Dietzel of Salem was killed while walking across River Road North at Cummings Lane in Keizer when a stolen Nissan Xterra driven by Sean K. Beck struck and ran over her during a Keizer Police Department pursuit. Dietzel had no connection to Beck, the stolen vehicle, the police shooting or the pursuit.
.
The encounter began after a woman reported that her Nissan Xterra and three firearms—a Glock pistol, an AR-15 and a .338 Lapua Magnum rifle—had been stolen. Later that evening, another person reported seeing the stolen Xterra behind the VCA Keizer Veterinary Hospital and a man standing near it with a handgun on his hip. Keizer police responded and contacted two men near the vehicle.
.
Police identified the armed man as Beck. According to the Marion County District Attorney's Office, officers repeatedly ordered Beck to surrender. Police alleged that Beck then opened fire toward them, and officers returned fire. The second man remained at the scene and cooperated with police. Beck, despite suffering multiple gunshot wounds, drove the stolen Xterra out of the parking area and south on River Road. Keizer officers pursued him with lights and sirens.
.
Witness Rachel Washburn described hearing successive bursts of gunfire and then seeing the fleeing vehicle pass her home with a police officer immediately behind it. The pursuit continued south on River Road toward the intersection with Cummings Lane.
.
Dietzel was walking across River Road in the marked crossing area at Cummings Lane. Witness Kenny Blount reported that the traffic signal was red for through traffic as Dietzel crossed. According to prosecutors, Beck entered the intersection at a high rate of speed against the red light and struck and ran over Dietzel.
.
Blount stopped and retrieved a military first-aid kit after seeing Dietzel struck. He reached her within moments but found her unresponsive. Dietzel was pronounced dead at the scene.
.
Beck continued south without stopping. Keizer police continued pursuing him into Salem, where Salem Police Department officers joined the response. The pursuit traveled onto Northeast Cherry Avenue toward the Home Depot near Salem Parkway.
.
Salem Police Corporal Matthew Groat used a PIT maneuver to force Beck's Xterra to stop near the Home Depot on Cherry Avenue. The encounter then developed into an approximately 20-minute standoff. Police fired another shot during the confrontation before Beck ultimately surrendered. He was transported to Salem Hospital for treatment of multiple gunshot wounds.
.
The publicly released accounts describe Beck traveling at a high rate of speed when he killed Dietzel but do not provide a measured pursuit speed or complete pursuit-speed reconstruction. No stop sticks were reported. The documented police vehicle-intervention tactic was Groat's PIT maneuver, which occurred later in Salem after Dietzel had already been killed.
.
Dash-camera recordings subsequently released by the Marion County District Attorney's Office documented the initial gunfire, police pursuit and later police actions. The recordings were released publicly in connection with Beck's criminal case.
.
Dietzel was born on 08/15/1956 and was 64 years old when she died. Her death resonated locally beyond the initial crime reporting: community members held a candlelight vigil in her memory on 08/02/2021. Keizer Police Chief John Teague publicly described Dietzel's death as the greatest tragedy of the entire incident.
.
The Oregon State Police led the investigation under Oregon's officer-use-of-deadly-force protocol. The investigation identified six Keizer officers connected to the incident: Sgt. Kevin DeMarco and Officers Scott Keniston, Michael Kowash, Jeremy Darst, Chad Fahey and Cody Stupfel. Five—DeMarco, Keniston, Kowash, Darst and Fahey—were subsequently identified as officers whose use of deadly force was reviewed by a Marion County grand jury.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Sgt. Kevin DeMarco and Officers Scott Keniston, Michael Kowash, Jeremy Darst, Chad Fahey and Cody Stupfel were identified by Oregon State Police as the Keizer officers placed on administrative leave following the encounter. A Marion County grand jury subsequently reviewed the gunfire by DeMarco, Keniston, Kowash, Darst and Fahey and unanimously found their use of deadly force against Beck justified. Stupfel was identified as an involved officer but was not among the five officers named in the grand jury's deadly-force clearance.
.
Salem Police Corporal Matthew Groat joined the pursuit after it entered Salem and performed the PIT maneuver that stopped Beck's Xterra near Home Depot.
.
DeMarco, Keniston, Kowash, Darst, Fahey and Stupfel were later awarded the Keizer Police Department Medal of Valor for their actions during the 07/28/2021 encounter.
.
DISPOSITION:
A Marion County grand jury unanimously found that DeMarco, Keniston, Kowash, Darst and Fahey were justified in using deadly force against Beck. No officer was criminally charged in connection with the encounter or Dietzel's death.
.
Beck ultimately pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for killing Dietzel, five counts of unlawful use of a weapon, three counts of felon in possession of a firearm and driving under the influence. On 07/20/2023, Marion County Circuit Court Judge Channing Bennett sentenced Beck to 205 months—17 years and one month—in prison, followed by 17 years of post-prison supervision. The court ordered more than $23,000 in restitution to Dietzel's family and permanently revoked Beck's driver's license. Other charges, including attempted aggravated murder, fleeing police and unauthorized use of a vehicle, were dismissed under the plea agreement.
.
A hospital blood draw following Beck's arrest measured his blood-alcohol concentration at .35. Investigators recovered the three stolen firearms from the Xterra. Those facts were established after the pursuit and were not the initiating reason police pursued him; the pursuit began after the encounter with the stolen vehicle and the alleged exchange of gunfire with police.
.

https://www.kgw.com/article/news/crime/police-investigation-forces-hours-long-closure-of-salem-street/283-151d14f5-dba0-49d9-b834-152535e82ff6
https://www.keizertimes.com/2021/07/31/man-charged-for-rampage-through-keizer-pedestrian-killed-is-identified/
https://www.salemreporter.com/2021/07/31/man-charged-for-rampage-through-keizer-pedestrian-killed-is-identified/
https://www.keizertimes.com/2021/07/29/update-keizer-police-officers-involved-in-shooting/
https://www.salemreporter.com/?p=17532
https://flashalert.net/id/MCDA/147500
https://www.keizertimes.com/2021/08/09/5-keizer-officers-cleared-in-shooting-suspect-sean-beck-indicted/
https://flashalert.net/id/MCDA/165170
https://www.keizertimes.com/2023/07/21/silverton-man-sentenced-to-17-years-for-keizer-rampage-that-killed-pedestrian/
https://oregonnews.uoregon.edu/lccn/sn00063621/2021-08-06/ed-1/seq-2/ocr/
https://www.keizertimes.com/2023/11/22/six-honored-for-valor/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAKKDsG7Kks

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. At approximately 11:00 p.m., Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers responded to the area of Shelby Street near Garfield Park after receiving a report concerning a stolen vehicle. Officers encountered a man driving a stolen pickup truck and attempted to stop him. The driver accelerated away, and IMPD officers pursued him south through Indianapolis.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/26/2021, an unidentified man was killed when the stolen pickup truck he was driving crashed during a brief Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department pursuit on the city's south side. The pickup rolled several times down an embankment and landed on the driver in the 4500 block of Madison Avenue near Interstate 465.
.
The encounter began at approximately 11:00 p.m. when IMPD received a report of a stolen vehicle near Garfield Park. Officers located the stolen pickup on Shelby Street and attempted to stop the driver. According to police, the man accelerated instead of stopping, and officers initiated a pursuit.
.
The pursuit was brief, lasting only a few minutes. Police reported that speeds reached approximately 60 mph as the pickup continued south.
.
As the pickup approached the Madison Avenue area, investigators believed the driver may have struck a median and lost control. The pickup left the roadway and rolled multiple times down an embankment in the 4500 block of Madison Avenue near Interstate 465.
.
The driver was ejected during the rollover. The pickup then landed on top of him, trapping him beneath the vehicle. Emergency personnel pronounced him dead at the scene. No other people were reported injured in the crash.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact was reported before the crash. The available accounts establish an approximate maximum pursuit speed of 60 mph and a duration of several minutes but do not provide the precise pursuit distance, the pursuing officer's speed, the distance between the police vehicle and pickup immediately before the crash, or evidence that officers attempted to terminate the pursuit before the collision.
.
IMPD announced that its internal investigators would review the pursuit to determine whether the officer's decision to initiate and continue the chase complied with department pursuit policy.
.
The driver was identified in contemporary reporting only as an adult male. His name, age and other biographical information were not publicly provided in the reports following the fatal pursuit.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer or officers who attempted to stop the stolen pickup and participated in the pursuit were not publicly identified in the available reporting.

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/indiana/articles/2021-07-27/man-dies-in-crash-during-brief-indianapolis-police-pursuit
https://www.wrtv.com/news/local-news/crime/1-dead-in-crash-involving-vehicle-pursuit-on-citys-south-side
https://www.dailyherald.com/20210727/news/man-dies-in-crash-during-brief-indianapolis-police-pursuit/

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Failure to use a turn signal. LMPD Officers Benjamin Sullivan and Joseph Nett were working in an undercover police vehicle when they followed a black Ford Five Hundred driven by Larry Williams. Dash-camera evidence later showed Williams failed to signal before making a right turn from West Oak Street onto Dr. W.J. Hodge Street. The officers attempted to stop Williams for the traffic violation. Williams continued driving away and Sullivan pursued. The initiating offense was a minor traffic violation; Williams was not then known to police to have committed a violent felony, and the Ford was not reported stolen.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/06/2021, 22-year-old Trevon Lanel Mitchell was killed while riding his moped near West Broadway and Dr. W.J. Hodge Street when a Ford driven by Larry Williams entered the intersection at approximately 90 mph during an LMPD pursuit and triggered a violent multi-vehicle collision. Mitchell had no connection to Williams, the traffic stop or the police pursuit.
.
Sullivan and his partner, Joseph Nett, were traveling in an undercover LMPD vehicle when they began following Williams. Dash-camera evidence later showed Williams failed to signal before turning right, providing the traffic violation used for the attempted stop. Sullivan activated the police vehicle's emergency equipment, and Williams accelerated away.
.
The pursuit accelerated dramatically through Louisville's West End. Court records later showed Sullivan's police vehicle reached approximately 95 mph while following Williams. LMPD subsequently maintained that the officers discontinued their attempt to stop Williams because of his speed, but the extent to which Sullivan actually disengaged became a central issue in subsequent litigation.
.
Williams approached the intersection of Dr. W.J. Hodge Street and West Broadway at approximately 90 mph and entered against a red traffic signal. His Ford struck an SUV occupied by Walter Jackson and Brent Bernier, then became involved in a chain-reaction collision with additional vehicles and the moped Mitchell was riding. Several people suffered serious injuries.
.
Mitchell suffered catastrophic injuries. He was transported to University of Louisville Hospital, where he died. He was three days short of his 23rd birthday.
.
Williams left the wrecked Ford and fled on foot. Police recovered a firearm from his vehicle after the collision. He remained at large for approximately six weeks before being arrested on 08/18/2021 and charged with murder, assault and other offenses arising from the crash. The firearm was discovered after the pursuit began and therefore was not a justification for the original attempted traffic stop.
.
No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks or roadblock preceded the fatal collision. The major dispute instead concerned whether Sullivan should have initiated or continued a high-speed pursuit over the turn-signal violation and whether police actually terminated the pursuit when they claimed they did.
.
LMPD initially said officers had discontinued their attempt to stop Williams before the crash. Surveillance video complicated that account because the undercover police vehicle arrived immediately after the collision. Subsequent litigation produced evidence that Sullivan reached approximately 95 mph during the encounter.
.
The officer's identity was itself initially reported incorrectly. The original LMPD collision report identified Sgt. Timothy Nett as the pursuing officer. During the subsequent litigation, an amended report identified rookie Officer Benjamin Sullivan as the driver of the police vehicle and Officer Joseph Nett as his partner in the passenger seat.
.
Trevon was born on 07/09/1998 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He attended Jeffersonville High School and was attending Ivy Tech Community College when he was killed. He loved animals and skateboarding. His grandmother Danita Mitchell remembered him as someone who smiled constantly and always had a joke to tell, and said he had been preparing to enter military service and was getting his life on track.
.
Mitchell's family and other people injured in the collision subsequently sued over the police pursuit, alleging that Sullivan violated LMPD policy by engaging in a high-speed pursuit when Williams was wanted only for a traffic violation. At the time, LMPD policy restricted pursuits to circumstances involving specified serious dangers, including violent felony suspects or stolen vehicles. The plaintiffs argued that none of those conditions existed when Sullivan attempted to stop Williams.
.
The case ultimately went to a 10-day civil trial in 2023. A jury awarded Mitchell's estate and other victims approximately $30.7 million and apportioned 97% of the fault to Williams and 3% to Sullivan. In 2024, the trial court ordered a partial new trial limited to apportionment. The Kentucky Court of Appeals subsequently documented that procedural history in a 2025 decision arising from the litigation.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Officer Benjamin Sullivan was driving the undercover LMPD vehicle and Joseph Nett was riding with him during the pursuit. Sullivan was a relatively new officer at the time. The fatal pursuit became the subject of LMPD Public Integrity and Professional Standards investigations as well as extensive civil litigation.
.
The subsequent civil case challenged not only Sullivan's decision to pursue Williams but also LMPD's handling and characterization of the incident. Plaintiffs presented evidence disputing the department's contention that the encounter was merely an attempted stop that had been discontinued before the fatal collision.
.
DISPOSITION:
Larry Williams was subsequently convicted of manslaughter, fleeing police and other offenses arising from the fatal crash. Mitchell's family and other victims also pursued civil claims against the involved officers.
.
A 2023 civil jury found both Williams and Officer Benjamin Sullivan responsible, allocating 97% of the fault to Williams and 3% to Sullivan and awarding approximately $30.7 million in damages. The trial court subsequently granted a partial new trial limited to allocation of fault.

https://www.wave3.com/2021/07/27/lmpd-undercover-officer-involved-deadly-crash/
https://www.wdrb.com/news/lmpd-officer-involved-in-fatal-crash-during-pursuit/article_6f52f7d8-ee9b-11eb-9f2b-9758fbb3b541.html
https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/lmpd-crash-broadway/417-cab5a320-c2c5-44b2-9a88-73ed908e8a63
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/news/2021/07/27/louisville-police-crash-leaves-one-dead-four-injured/5387293001/
https://www.wave3.com/2021/07/07/suspect-deadly-broadway-crash-run-lmpd-investigating/
https://www.wave3.com/2021/08/12/victims-deadly-broadway-crash-sue-lmpd-officer/
https://www.wave3.com/2021/08/18/man-arrested-after-traffic-stop-leads-deadly-crash/
https://www.wlky.com/article/lawsuit-accuses-lmpd-officer-of-not-following-car-pursuit-policy-in-deadly-july-collision/37297132
https://www.wdrb.com/news/louisville-man-charged-with-murder-weeks-after-fatal-crash/article_b0da8fcc-005c-11ec-862e-8bb86293d003.html
https://www.wave3.com/2023/12/05/jury-awards-31-million-lmpd-police-chase-trial/
https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/court-of-appeals/2025/2023-ca-1202-mr.html
https://www.scottfuneralhome.com/obituary/Trevon-Mitchell

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Felony warrant and narcotics investigation. The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit was attempting to apprehend Kaleb Marshall Brown after investigators received information alleging that he was distributing methamphetamine, was a convicted felon possessing a handgun and had an active Tennessee felony warrant for aggravated assault. The Narcotics Unit requested assistance from the Tunnel Hill Police Department to stop Brown’s vehicle.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/26/2021, 26-year-old Kaleb Marshall Brown of Tunnel Hill was killed when the 2002 Volkswagen Beetle he was driving crashed during a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office and Tunnel Hill Police Department pursuit near U.S. Highway 41 and Shugart Road. His passenger, 27-year-old Christy Leigh Lawing of Crandall, was also killed.
.
At approximately 3:00 p.m., the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit requested assistance from Tunnel Hill police in stopping Brown. Sheriff Scott Chitwood said narcotics investigators had information alleging that Brown was distributing methamphetamine, possessed a handgun despite being a convicted felon and had an outstanding Tennessee aggravated-assault warrant.
.
A Tunnel Hill police officer attempted to stop Brown’s Volkswagen. Brown continued driving away, and the Tunnel Hill officer and a Whitfield County sheriff’s deputy pursued him.
.
During the pursuit, the Tunnel Hill police officer intentionally struck Brown’s Volkswagen with a PIT maneuver in an attempt to force the vehicle to stop. Brown regained control of the Volkswagen following the PIT and continued driving while police pursued.
.
According to the Georgia State Patrol crash account, Brown subsequently traveled south on Georgia Highway 3/U.S. Highway 41 at a high rate of speed. As he approached Shugart Road, Brown attempted to pass multiple vehicles by driving between the right-turn lane and right travel lane.
.
The Volkswagen struck four vehicles while attempting to pass them and then crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer. The impact caused the Volkswagen to rotate counterclockwise and strike the driver-side front quarter panel of one of the vehicles it had previously hit. The Volkswagen came to an uncontrolled stop facing north between the right travel lane and right-turn lane.
.
Brown and Lawing were pronounced dead at the scene. The Georgia State Patrol investigated the fatal collision.
.
The pursuit therefore involved direct police vehicle intervention before the fatal crash. The Tunnel Hill officer performed a PIT maneuver against Brown’s Volkswagen, but that maneuver did not immediately terminate the pursuit because Brown recovered control and continued driving. The fatal collision occurred later as the Volkswagen approached Highway 41 and Shugart Road.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Tunnel Hill police officer who attempted the traffic stop, pursued Brown and performed the PIT maneuver has not been publicly identified in the available reporting. The Whitfield County sheriff’s deputy who joined the pursuit also has not been publicly identified. Tunnel Hill Police Chief Trey Ryder confirmed that his department was assisting the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office operation but declined to provide further details while the incident remained under investigation.

https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/news/two-killed-in-whitfield-county-crash-after-police-chase/article_3e1dbe6a-ef07-11eb-a261-bf80c249d79a.html
https://www.newschannel9.com/news/local/two-dead-after-police-chase-ends-in-crash-in-whitfield-county
https://www.wdef.com/two-dead-in-whitfield-county-after-police-chase-ends-in-crash/
https://www.wdef.com/two-suspects-dead-chase-whitfield-county/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/updated-tunnel-hill-man-crandall-221700407.html

.
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Felony warrant and narcotics investigation involving the driver of the vehicle in which Lawing was riding. The Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Unit was attempting to apprehend the driver after receiving information alleging that he was distributing methamphetamine, was a convicted felon possessing a handgun and had an active Tennessee felony warrant for aggravated assault. Narcotics investigators requested assistance from Tunnel Hill police to stop the vehicle. No available account identifies Lawing herself as the subject of the investigation or the reason police initiated the pursuit.
.
EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 07/26/2021, 27-year-old Christy Leigh Lawing of Crandall was killed while riding as a passenger in a Volkswagen Beetle during a Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office and Tunnel Hill Police Department pursuit. Lawing was not identified as the target of the narcotics investigation, the outstanding warrant or the attempted police stop.
.
At approximately 3:00 p.m., Whitfield County narcotics investigators requested assistance from the Tunnel Hill Police Department in stopping the Volkswagen. A Tunnel Hill officer attempted the stop, but the driver continued driving away. The Tunnel Hill officer and a Whitfield County sheriff’s deputy pursued the vehicle with Lawing still riding as a passenger.
.
During the chase, the Tunnel Hill officer used a PIT maneuver against the Volkswagen in an attempt to force it to stop. The driver regained control following the intentional police-vehicle contact and continued driving while officers pursued.
.
The pursuit continued south on Georgia Highway 3/U.S. Highway 41. According to the Georgia State Patrol, the Volkswagen was traveling at a high rate of speed as it approached Shugart Road and attempted to pass multiple vehicles between the right-turn lane and right travel lane.
.
The Volkswagen struck four vehicles before crashing into the rear of a tractor-trailer. The impact rotated the Volkswagen counterclockwise, and it struck one of the previously hit vehicles again before coming to an uncontrolled stop.
.
Lawing and the driver were pronounced dead at the scene. Lawing was 27 and lived in Crandall, Georgia.
.
Lawing’s role in the incident was that of a passenger. The publicly released accounts do not allege that she was the person police were seeking, that she had an outstanding warrant, that she possessed a firearm or that she was suspected of distributing narcotics. The police operation and attempted stop were directed at the driver.
.
The police pursuit included a PIT maneuver before Lawing was killed. Although the maneuver did not itself immediately crash the Volkswagen, it constituted intentional police-vehicle contact during the same continuous pursuit that subsequently ended in the fatal collision at Highway 41 and Shugart Road.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Tunnel Hill police officer who pursued the Volkswagen and performed the PIT maneuver has not been publicly identified in the available reporting. The Whitfield County sheriff’s deputy who participated in the pursuit also has not been publicly identified.
.

https://www.northwestgeorgianews.com/news/two-killed-in-whitfield-county-crash-after-police-chase/article_3e1dbe6a-ef07-11eb-a261-bf80c249d79a.html
https://www.newschannel9.com/news/local/two-dead-after-police-chase-ends-in-crash-in-whitfield-county
https://www.wdef.com/two-dead-in-whitfield-county-after-police-chase-ends-in-crash/
https://www.wdef.com/two-suspects-dead-chase-whitfield-county/
https://www.yahoo.com/news/updated-tunnel-hill-man-crandall-221700407.html

.
REASON FOR POLICE ENCOUNTER:
Traffic violation. At approximately 12:30 a.m., Leon County Sheriff's Office deputies stopped a black Infiniti passenger car at West Tennessee Street and White Drive for an unspecified traffic violation. Deputies approached the vehicle and spoke with its driver and passenger.
.
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 07/25/2021, an unidentified driver of a Chevrolet passenger car was killed when a black Infiniti that had fled a Leon County Sheriff's Office traffic stop crashed into the Chevrolet at West Tennessee Street and Blountstown Highway in Tallahassee. The Chevrolet driver was an uninvolved motorist with no connection to the preceding police encounter.
.
The encounter began approximately a mile east of the eventual crash, at West Tennessee Street and White Drive. Deputies stopped the Infiniti for a traffic violation and made contact with its driver and passenger. After a brief interaction, the Infiniti suddenly accelerated westbound on West Tennessee Street.
.
As the Infiniti drove away, it ran over a deputy's foot and dragged the deputy a short distance.
.
A few moments later, authorities received a report of a two-vehicle collision approximately a mile away at West Tennessee Street and Blountstown Highway. Deputies responding to the collision recognized the Infiniti as the same vehicle that had fled the traffic stop.
.
The Infiniti had crashed into a Chevrolet passenger car and also damaged several vehicles at a nearby automobile dealership. The Chevrolet's driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
.
The Infiniti's driver and passenger were transported to a hospital. The passenger subsequently died from injuries sustained in the crash. The driver survived the initial collision and remained hospitalized when LCSO released its preliminary account.
.
TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES:
The uninvolved Chevrolet driver and the Infiniti passenger were killed. The Infiniti driver was injured, and a Leon County sheriff's deputy suffered a foot injury when the Infiniti drove away from the traffic stop.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Leon County Sheriff's Office deputies involved in the traffic stop have not been publicly identified in the sources located.
.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2021/07/25/leon-lcso-pursuit-tallahassee-killed-crash-west-tennessee/8086212002/
https://www.wctv.tv/2021/07/25/2-dead-following-car-crash-tallahassee/
https://www.leoncountyso.com/portals/0/docs/news-releases/lcso-investigating-fatal-traffic-crash9b4a3f4a2c174e99b07cca01de15336e.pdf
https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2021-07-26/two-people-dead-following-traffic-stop-in-tallahassee
https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/2-dead-2-injured-including-lcso-deputy-in-crash-after-traffic-stop
https://tallahasseereports.com/2021/07/25/lcso-investigating-traffic-crash-that-claims-two-lives/

On 07/25/2021, officers with the Cortland Police Department and the Cortland County Sheriff's Office attempted to stop a motorcycle after observing traffic violations, including speeding and an inadequate muffler. When the rider continued traveling, officers initiated a pursuit through the City of Cortland. According to later records, the pursuit involved high speeds, with both the motorcycle and pursuing patrol vehicles maneuvering around other traffic.
The pursuit ended near the Port Watson Street bridge when Casey J. Stockton lost control of his motorcycle and crashed. He was pronounced dead at the scene. New York State Police investigated the fatal crash.
Records later obtained by the Times Union reported that the lead pursuing officer had reached for the radio to terminate the pursuit just before encountering Stockton's body in the roadway.
Publicly available records do not indicate that the pursuing officers were publicly identified, that the incident resulted in disciplinary action or criminal charges against officers, or that Stockton's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

https://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/2021/07/26/casey-stockton-killed-during-late-night-police-chase-cortland/8090830002/

.
REASON FOR POLICE ENCOUNTER:
Traffic violation. At approximately 12:30 a.m., Leon County Sheriff's Office deputies stopped a black Infiniti passenger car at West Tennessee Street and White Drive for an unspecified traffic violation. Deputies approached the vehicle and spoke with its driver and passenger.
.
OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 07/25/2021, an unidentified driver of a Chevrolet passenger car was killed when a black Infiniti that had fled a Leon County Sheriff's Office traffic stop crashed into the Chevrolet at West Tennessee Street and Blountstown Highway in Tallahassee. The Chevrolet driver was an uninvolved motorist with no connection to the preceding police encounter.
.
The encounter began approximately a mile east of the eventual crash, at West Tennessee Street and White Drive. Deputies stopped the Infiniti for a traffic violation and made contact with its driver and passenger. After a brief interaction, the Infiniti suddenly accelerated westbound on West Tennessee Street.
.
As the Infiniti drove away, it ran over a deputy's foot and dragged the deputy a short distance.
.
A few moments later, authorities received a report of a two-vehicle collision approximately a mile away at West Tennessee Street and Blountstown Highway. Deputies responding to the collision recognized the Infiniti as the same vehicle that had fled the traffic stop.
.
The Infiniti had crashed into a Chevrolet passenger car and also damaged several vehicles at a nearby automobile dealership. The Chevrolet's driver was pronounced dead at the scene.
.
The Infiniti's driver and passenger were transported to a hospital. The passenger subsequently died from injuries sustained in the crash. The driver survived the initial collision and remained hospitalized when LCSO released its preliminary account.
.
TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES:
The uninvolved Chevrolet driver and the Infiniti passenger were killed. The Infiniti driver was injured, and a Leon County sheriff's deputy suffered a foot injury when the Infiniti drove away from the traffic stop.
.
OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Leon County Sheriff's Office deputies involved in the traffic stop have not been publicly identified in the sources located.
.

https://www.tallahassee.com/story/news/local/2021/07/25/leon-lcso-pursuit-tallahassee-killed-crash-west-tennessee/8086212002/
https://www.wctv.tv/2021/07/25/2-dead-following-car-crash-tallahassee/
https://www.leoncountyso.com/portals/0/docs/news-releases/lcso-investigating-fatal-traffic-crash9b4a3f4a2c174e99b07cca01de15336e.pdf
https://news.wfsu.org/wfsu-local-news/2021-07-26/two-people-dead-following-traffic-stop-in-tallahassee
https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/2-dead-2-injured-including-lcso-deputy-in-crash-after-traffic-stop
https://tallahasseereports.com/2021/07/25/lcso-investigating-traffic-crash-that-claims-two-lives/

On 07/24/2021, a Quogue Police Department officer attempted to stop a vehicle after observing it traveling without its headlights illuminated on Montauk Highway. When the driver continued driving away, the officer activated the patrol vehicle's emergency lights and followed the vehicle westbound. Police later stated the officer had discontinued the pursuit before the collision, although witnesses and video evidence indicated the patrol vehicle remained behind the fleeing vehicle with its emergency lights activated shortly before the crash.
Near the intersection of Montauk Highway and Quogue Street, the pursued vehicle crossed the center line and collided head-on with an eastbound vehicle operating as an Uber. Ryan James Kiess, a passenger in the Uber, was killed in the collision along with Uber driver Farhan Zahid, passengers Michael Farrell and James Farrell, and the driver of the pursued vehicle, Justin Mendez.
The New York State Attorney General's Office reviewed the incident because it involved a police encounter preceding the fatal crash. In 2023, the Attorney General concluded there was insufficient evidence to establish that the officer's conduct caused the collision under New York law and declined to bring criminal charges. The report noted that Quogue Police Department policy prohibited vehicle pursuits for traffic infractions and found that the officer continued following Mendez after activating emergency lights despite later stating the pursuit had been terminated.
Ryan Kiess graduated from Fairfield University and worked in New York City's financial industry. Family and friends remembered him as kind, generous, and devoted to those around him. His death, along with the deaths of the other occupants of the Uber, prompted continued scrutiny of the officer's actions and the department's pursuit practices.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/25/nyregion/fatal-crash-montauk-highway-quogue.html
https://www.newsday.com/long-island/suffolk/4-killed-in-crash-1.50240133