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Michael D. Mason

Age : 46

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 06/16/2021

Location : Eastland Parkway and Gayle Drive

City : Lexington

County : Lexington-Fayette

State : Kentucky

Agency : Lexington Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR CHASE: At approximately 1:15 p.m., a Lexington Police Department officer observed Michael D. Mason apparently passed out behind the wheel of a gray Toyota Camry stopped in a travel lane on the outer loop of New Circle Road at Liberty Road. The officer circled back to investigate. At approximately 1:19 p.m., after the Camry began moving with traffic, the officer activated emergency lights near Eastland Parkway to conduct a traffic stop and check on the driver. Mason accelerated away. Police later determined that the Camry had been stolen.
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NARRATIVE:
On 06/16/2021, at approximately 1:15 p.m., a Lexington Police Department officer traveling on New Circle Road observed 46-year-old Michael D. Mason apparently passed out behind the wheel of a gray Toyota Camry in a lane of travel near Liberty Road. Traffic prevented the officer from immediately reaching the vehicle. The officer circled back to investigate, by which time the Camry had begun moving with traffic.
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At approximately 1:19 p.m., the officer activated emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop near Eastland Parkway. Mason slowly turned right onto Eastland Parkway and then accelerated away. Contrary to the original descriptions of this incident as a police pursuit, Lexington Police Department records state that the officer immediately radioed that he was not pursuing Mason and deliberately turned in the opposite direction onto Martha Court. Sgt. Donnell Gordon subsequently confirmed that the officer did not chase the Camry.
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Approximately two minutes later, at about 1:21 p.m., police and firefighters were dispatched to a three-vehicle collision at Gayle Drive and Eastland Parkway. Investigators determined that Mason was driving on Gayle Drive when he disregarded the stop sign at Eastland Parkway and entered the intersection. A pickup truck and an SUV traveling in opposite directions on Eastland Parkway struck the Camry. The Camry and SUV came to rest in the yard at 1801 Gayle Drive. Firefighters had to extricate Mason from the wreckage.
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Mason sustained multiple blunt-force injuries and was pronounced dead at the scene at approximately 1:59 p.m. The SUV driver sustained serious injuries and was transported to a hospital. The pickup-truck driver sustained minor injuries and was treated at the scene. Mason was the sole occupant of the Camry.
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The Lexington Police Department Collision Reconstruction Unit investigated the fatal crash. Investigators subsequently determined that the Toyota Camry Mason was driving had been stolen. Public reporting did not establish why Mason accelerated away from the attempted traffic stop.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Lexington Police Department officer who observed Mason, activated emergency lights and attempted the traffic stop has not been publicly identified in the department's release or the available contemporaneous reporting. Sgt. Donnell Gordon was the department spokesperson who provided information to reporters and was not identified as the officer who attempted the stop. Because the involved officer remains unidentified, no individual prior shooting, pursuit, complaint, discipline or civil-litigation history can be reliably attributed to that officer.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES: 1 fatality, 2 injuries

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.lex18.com/news/man-flees-police-ends-up-dead-after-three-car-crash
https://www.kentucky.com/news/local/crime/article251991342.html
https://www.lexingtonpoliceky.gov/news/police-chase-ends-fatal-crash
https://www.wkyt.com/2021/06/16/driver-killed-crash-after-speeding-away-lexington-officer-two-others-hurt/
https://www.wtvq.com/man-flees-from-attempted-traffic-stop-killed-in-crash-police/