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Trevon Lanell Mitchell

Age : 22

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 07/06/2021

Location : 1329-1203 W Broadway & Dr. W. J. Hodge Street

City : Louisville

County : Jefferson

State : Kentucky

Agency : Louisville Metro Police Department

Officer(s) :Benjamin Sullivan; Joseph Nett

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander moped driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Failure to use a turn signal. LMPD Officer Benjamin Sullivan, with Officer Joseph Nett riding in the passenger seat of an unmarked police vehicle, began following a black Ford sedan driven by Larry Williams. Sullivan later testified that he initially noticed the vehicle and its Black driver based on a “gut feeling” while working a violent-crime detail. After Williams made a right turn from West Oak Street onto Dr. W.J. Hodge Street without signaling, Sullivan activated his emergency equipment to conduct a traffic stop. Williams accelerated away and Sullivan pursued him, although LMPD policy restricted pursuits for minor traffic violations.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 07/06/2021, 22-year-old Trevon Lanel Mitchell of Jeffersonville, Indiana, was killed while riding his moped when a Ford sedan being pursued by Louisville Metro Police Officer Benjamin Sullivan entered the intersection of West Broadway and Dr. W.J. Hodge Street at approximately 90 mph, crashed into other vehicles and struck Mitchell. Mitchell was an uninvolved road user and had no connection to Williams or the police encounter.
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Shortly before 9:00 p.m., Sullivan was driving an unmarked LMPD vehicle on Dixie Highway with Nett as his partner. Sullivan noticed Williams' black Ford sedan, which had a tinted windshield. Sullivan later testified that seeing the Black driver's elbow extending from the window contributed to his interest in the vehicle and that he had a “gut feeling” the driver was the type of person police were looking for while working the violent-crime detail.
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Sullivan and Nett followed the Ford. Dash-camera footage later showed Williams make a right turn without using a turn signal. Sullivan activated his emergency lights and siren. Williams accelerated away and Sullivan followed. The pursuit traveled along the residential corridor toward West Broadway, with the Ford reaching approximately 80 to 90 mph.
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The pursuit was initiated over the turn-signal violation even though LMPD's pursuit policy prohibited officers from initiating pursuits solely for minor traffic offenses. Sullivan later said that after Williams accelerated away, he believed the Ford might be stolen, but the vehicle had not been established as stolen when Sullivan initiated the encounter.
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LMPD terminated the pursuit shortly before Williams reached Broadway, but Williams was already approaching the intersection at extreme speed. Williams entered West Broadway against a red traffic signal and crashed into multiple vehicles.
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Williams first crashed into a vehicle carrying Walter Jackson and Brent Bernier. The Ford then struck Mitchell's moped. Mitchell's friend Aidan Colmore was following him on another moped and witnessed the collision. Another vehicle carrying John Robinson was also struck during the crash sequence.
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Mitchell suffered catastrophic injuries and was transported to University of Louisville Hospital, where he died. He was three days short of his 23rd birthday.
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Williams left the crashed Ford and ran from the scene. Investigators subsequently identified him through surveillance video. Police arrested him approximately six weeks later and charged him with murder, assault and other offenses arising from the pursuit and fatal collision.
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Mitchell was born on 07/09/1998 in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He attended Jeffersonville High School and was attending Ivy Tech Community College. His family said he loved animals and skateboarding. His grandmother Danita Mitchell later said he had been preparing to enter military service.
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The circumstances of the police pursuit became the subject of extensive civil litigation. Mitchell's estate and people injured in the collision alleged that Sullivan violated LMPD policy by pursuing Williams for a minor traffic violation and that the police pursuit contributed to the fatal crash.
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The litigation also exposed an initial error concerning the pursuing officer's identity. The original LMPD traffic collision report incorrectly identified Officer Timothy Nett as the officer driving the police vehicle. An amended report subsequently identified Benjamin Sullivan as the driver and Joseph Nett as the officer riding with him.
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For approximately a year after Mitchell's death, Sullivan disputed that his actions constituted a pursuit. The original police report had described the encounter as a pursuit, but Sullivan told an LMPD investigator that he had not pursued Williams. In a 2022 civil deposition, after reviewing video and LMPD's pursuit policy, Sullivan acknowledged that it had been a pursuit and said he wished he had never attempted the stop.
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LMPD's Professional Standards Unit subsequently investigated Sullivan's actions. The investigation determined that Sullivan violated department pursuit policy and body-camera procedures. On 04/19/2023, LMPD imposed a two-day, 16-hour unpaid suspension for the violations. Louisville Police Merit Board records confirm the discipline.
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In November 2023, Mitchell's estate and other people affected by the collision took their civil claims against Sullivan and Williams to trial. Evidence included security-camera and police video documenting the pursuit and crash. The plaintiffs argued that Sullivan never should have initiated the pursuit because Williams' failure to signal did not satisfy LMPD's requirements for a police chase.
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The jury awarded approximately $30.7 million in damages and apportioned 97% of the responsibility to Williams and 3% to Sullivan. The Jefferson Circuit Court subsequently granted a partial new trial limited to the allocation of responsibility. The continuing litigation later reached the Kentucky Court of Appeals in a dispute involving former LMPD Chief Erika Shields' deposition; in May 2025, the appellate court affirmed the orders requiring Shields to testify.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Benjamin Sullivan was a rookie LMPD officer when he initiated the pursuit that killed Mitchell. Sullivan was working a special violent-crime detail with Officer Joseph Nett when he noticed Williams' vehicle. Sullivan testified that before observing the turn-signal violation, his interest in the Black driver arose from a “gut feeling” that the driver was the type of person police were trying to apprehend.
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Sullivan's documented disciplinary outcome from the Mitchell pursuit was a two-day unpaid suspension imposed in April 2023. LMPD found violations of SOP 12.1 governing pursuits and SOP 4.31.6 governing body-camera procedures.
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The later civil trial also examined LMPD's handling of Sullivan after the crash. Sullivan initially maintained that the encounter was not a pursuit despite the original police report describing it as one. The Professional Standards investigation eventually concluded that he had violated pursuit policy.
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Sullivan remained employed by LMPD after the suspension. Subsequent reporting found that he continued working as a police officer and received department commendations after the fatal pursuit.
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DISPOSITION:
Larry Williams was arrested approximately six weeks after Mitchell's death and prosecuted for the fatal collision. The subsequent civil case produced a jury award of approximately $30.7 million, with the jury initially assigning 97% of responsibility to Williams and 3% to Officer Benjamin Sullivan. The trial court later ordered a partial new trial limited to apportionment of responsibility. LMPD separately suspended Sullivan for two days without pay for violating pursuit and body-camera policies.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.whas11.com/article/news/local/louisville-lmpd-crash-trevon-mitchell-chase-broadway-hodge/417-0c0c1f3b-6a7a-460d-bef1-d3aa3950ea2e
https://louisville-accident-lawyer.com/blog/one-killed-in-louisville-ky-moped-crash/
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.wdrb.com/news/louisville-man-charged-with-murder-weeks-after-fatal-crash/article_b0da8fcc-005c-11ec-862e-8bb86293d003.html
https://www.wlky.com/article/lawsuit-accuses-lmpd-officer-of-not-following-car-pursuit-policy-in-deadly-july-collision/37297132
https://www.wave3.com/2023/12/05/jury-awards-31-million-lmpd-police-chase-trial/
https://www.sfchronicle.com/projects/2024/police-pursuits-race-deaths/
https://law.justia.com/cases/kentucky/court-of-appeals/2025/2023-ca-1202-mr.html
https://louisvilleky.gov/sites/default/files/2023-07/PMB%204-21-23.docx_.pdf
https://www.scottfuneralhome.com/obituary/Trevon-Mitchell