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Steve Sanders

Age : 69

Gender : Male

Race : White

Date : 08/14/2021

Location : 10000 block of Bissonnet Street, near Woodfair Drive

City : Houston

County : Harris

State : Texas

Agency : Houston Police Department

Officer(s) :Brandon Kristofer Kpotie

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police vehicle during prostitution enforcement operation

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/14/2021, 69-year-old Steve Sanders was struck and killed by a Houston Police Department patrol vehicle driven by Officer Brandon Kristofer Kpotie in the 10000 block of Bissonnet Street near Woodfair Drive in southwest Houston. Kpotie was driving above the posted speed limit without activating the patrol vehicle's emergency lights or siren while responding to an arrest connected with an HPD prostitution enforcement operation.
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At approximately 9:00 p.m., Kpotie and another Houston police officer identified in court records as Officer Young were assigned to a crime-suppression team conducting a prostitution operation in southwest Houston. Kpotie and Young were sitting together in a marked HPD patrol vehicle while surveillance officers and an undercover officer conducted the operation. They were waiting for notification that an arrest was ready to be made.
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After officers involved in the operation notified Kpotie and Young that they were ready to make an arrest, Kpotie began driving the marked patrol vehicle toward the planned arrest location. Kpotie did not activate the vehicle's emergency lights or siren. The posted speed limit on Bissonnet Street was 35 mph.
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Kpotie later estimated that he had been traveling approximately 40 to 45 mph. HPD's subsequent crash reconstruction determined that the patrol vehicle was traveling approximately 55 mph about 70 feet before it struck Sanders, approximately 20 mph above the posted speed limit.
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As Kpotie traveled along Bissonnet Street, Sanders entered the roadway. Officer Young, who was riding in the passenger seat, reported seeing a shadow suddenly appear in front of the passenger side of the patrol vehicle and warned Kpotie. Kpotie said he did not see Sanders until Young alerted him. Kpotie attempted to steer to the left, but the right front portion of the police vehicle struck Sanders.
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Sanders suffered fatal injuries. He had no involvement in the prostitution enforcement operation that Kpotie and Young were responding to when the police vehicle struck him.
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The collision subsequently became the subject of civil litigation brought by Sanders's daughters against the City of Houston. In August 2022, they sued the city alleging that Sanders's death resulted from negligence involving Kpotie's operation of the police vehicle. The litigation later reached the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals as City of Houston v. Morris.
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The appellate record documented that Kpotie was responding to the prostitution-operation arrest without emergency lights or siren and that HPD's crash reconstruction calculated his speed at approximately 55 mph shortly before impact in the 35-mph zone. The City of Houston asserted governmental and official-immunity defenses in the litigation.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
Houston Police Officer Brandon Kristofer Kpotie was driving the marked patrol vehicle that struck and killed Sanders. Officer Young was riding in the passenger seat and was participating with Kpotie in the prostitution enforcement operation but was not driving the vehicle.
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LITIGATION:
Sanders's daughters filed a wrongful-death and survival lawsuit against the City of Houston in August 2022 arising from Kpotie's operation of the police vehicle. The litigation proceeded through the Texas courts and resulted in an appellate decision in City of Houston v. Morris addressing the city's governmental-immunity and official-immunity arguments.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/crime/article/Pedestrian-hit-killed-by-Houston-police-officer-16388400.php
https://www.click2houston.com/news/local/2021/08/15/hpd-officer-hits-kills-pedestrian-on-bissonnet-street/
https://www.fox26houston.com/news/man-dies-after-getting-hit-by-hpd-patrol-vehicle-officer-found-to-be-not-at-fault
https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/fourteenth-court-of-appeals/2024/14-23-00570-cv.html