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Sequoyah C. Woodberry

Age : 21

Gender : Female

Race : Black

Date : 08/24/2021

Location : Bailey Ave & Doat Street

City : Buffalo

County : Erie

State : New York

Agency : Buffalo Police Department

Officer(s) :Not disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Disputed. Buffalo police records obtained through a later public-records investigation state that officers began pursuing the Chevrolet Cruze after observing the driver speeding. Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia later gave a different account, saying officers recognized the car as a vehicle connected to an earlier shooting. The distinction is significant because Buffalo Police Department policy prohibited vehicle pursuits based solely on traffic violations.
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EVENT NARRATIVE:
On 08/24/2021, 21-year-old Sequoyah C. Woodberry was killed while riding as the front-seat passenger in a Chevrolet Cruze pursued by Buffalo Police Department officers through the city's East Side. Woodberry was not driving the car and had no control over whether the driver stopped for police.
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Buffalo police patrol officers began pursuing the Cruze at approximately 3:45 a.m. near Sycamore Street and Fillmore Avenue. Initial police reporting described the vehicle only as suspicious. Later police records obtained through a public-records request stated that officers observed the driver traveling at high speed. Commissioner Gramaglia subsequently said officers instead recognized the Cruze as connected to an earlier shooting. The public accounts therefore conflict over the justification for initiating the chase.
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Annette Addimando, another passenger in the Cruze, later told investigators that she had allowed Darrius Jackson Jr. to drive her car. She remembered portions of the pursuit, including screeching tires, loud music and police emergency lights behind the vehicle. She also recalled Jackson indicating before driving away that he did not stop for police.
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The pursuit continued for approximately 15 minutes through Buffalo. At about 4:00 a.m., the Cruze was traveling south on Bailey Avenue at high speed when police said the driver entered the intersection at Doat Street against a red light. Another vehicle traveling through the intersection struck the Cruze broadside. The impact sent the Cruze into a light pole and severely damaged the vehicle.
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Woodberry was trapped in the wreckage with Jackson and Addimando. Police body-camera video later obtained through public-records requests shows officers arriving immediately after the crash and cutting through an airbag to reach the occupants. Woodberry was still showing signs of life as officers attempted to reach her, but she died at the scene. Jackson was transported to Erie County Medical Center in critical condition. Addimando was also hospitalized and survived. The driver of the other vehicle suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
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Police recovered a loaded 9mm handgun containing 13 rounds from the Cruze after the crash. The weapon was discovered after the pursuit had already occurred and therefore was not itself the initiating reason for the chase.
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No PIT/TVI maneuver, stop sticks, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact with the Cruze immediately before the collision was identified in the available records. Public reporting does not provide a documented maximum pursuit speed or identify the individual officers driving the pursuing Buffalo police vehicles.
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Woodberry was 21 years old and had been attending beauty school. Later reporting described her as a young woman whose life was cut short while she was a passenger in a vehicle someone else was driving. The New York Attorney General's Office formally recorded Woodberry as a Black woman who died during a Buffalo Police Department pursuit.
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The Buffalo Police Department's Internal Affairs Division and Accident Investigation Unit investigated the pursuit and fatal crash. The New York Attorney General's Office of Special Investigation also assessed Woodberry's death. OSI ultimately closed the matter, concluding that a police officer did not cause Woodberry's death.
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Later scrutiny raised a significant issue concerning whether the pursuit complied with Buffalo Police Department policy. Records obtained by the Times Union indicated that officers initiated the chase after observing speeding, while department policy prohibited pursuits for traffic violations alone. Commissioner Gramaglia disputed that account and said the Cruze had been associated with an earlier shooting, which would have provided a violent-crime basis for pursuing it. The conflicting explanations remained unresolved in the later reporting.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Buffalo Police Department officers who initiated and participated in the pursuit have not been publicly identified in the available records and reporting.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wkbw.com/news/local-news/fatal-crash-following-police-pursuit-in-buffalo
https://www.buffalonews.com/news/crime/police-chase-ends-in-fatal-crash-in-buffalo
https://www.wnyt.com/abc-news/nation-world/fatal-crash-in-buffalo-involving-vehicle-in-police-pursuit/
https://wblk.com/police-chase-in-buffalo-ends-with-one-dead-one-in-critical-condition/
https://www.timesunion.com/state/article/fatal-police-chases-ny-death-19369809.php
https://www.timesunion.com/projects/2024/police-pursuits/
https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/2021-osi-annual-report.pdf