Search fatalities

Laurie Beth Seehusen

Age : 58

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 07/15/2021

Location : Barnhill Road near Texas Highway 105 and FM 1131

City : Pine Forest

County : Orange

State : Texas

Agency : Jasper County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by crash during police pursuit

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
Stolen vehicle. Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputies were pursuing a pickup truck allegedly driven by 23-year-old Kade Orion Davis after the truck had been reported stolen. The pursuit continued from Jasper County into neighboring Orange County.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 07/15/2021, 58-year-old Laurie Beth Seehusen of Vidor was killed when a stolen pickup truck being pursued by Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputies crashed into her car on Barnhill Road in Orange County. Seehusen was the sole person in her vehicle and was not involved in the police pursuit.
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The pursuit originated with Jasper County sheriff’s deputies and crossed into Orange County. Police alleged that Davis was driving a stolen pickup truck while deputies pursued him. The available reporting does not establish that Seehusen had any opportunity to know that a police pursuit was approaching her.
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Shortly after 4:30 p.m., the pursuit reached Barnhill Road near the intersection of Texas Highway 105 and FM 1131. The pickup crashed into the car Seehusen was driving. She suffered fatal injuries and died as a result of the collision. Davis sustained minor injuries and was taken into custody.
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Texas Department of Public Safety investigated and reconstructed the fatal collision. DPS Lt. Chuck Havard confirmed that Jasper County sheriff’s deputies were pursuing the stolen truck when it crashed into Seehusen’s vehicle.
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The available reporting does not document a PIT/TVI maneuver, stop-stick deployment, roadblock or intentional police-vehicle contact immediately before the fatal collision. Published accounts also do not provide the pursuit’s maximum speed, total duration or distance, the number of deputies participating, or the following distance between the pursuing deputies and Davis immediately before the collision.
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Davis was subsequently identified as the 23-year-old Lumberton man driving the pickup. The Jasper County inmate arrest report listed numerous charges against him, including evading arrest or detention, unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, deadly conduct, tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, possession of marijuana, violation of a bond or protective order, theft and other offenses.
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Davis also had a documented history of fleeing police before the pursuit that killed Seehusen. On 08/03/2020, less than a year before the fatal crash, he was booked into the Liberty County Jail on charges that included evading arrest, reckless driving, resisting arrest, failure to identify as a fugitive, criminal mischief and unauthorized use of a vehicle.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Jasper County Sheriff’s Office deputies who pursued the stolen pickup have not been publicly identified.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.12newsnow.com/article/news/crime/jasper-county-high-speed-chase-turns-deadly/502-c059f1c9-2781-4592-9ebc-9fe05b23cf6e
https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/DPS-identifies-bystander-killed-during-police-16319332.php
https://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/Driver-in-fatal-high-speed-chase-faces-multiple-16337747.php
https://www.lmtonline.com/news/article/Driver-in-fatal-high-speed-chase-faces-multiple-16337747.php
https://bluebonnetnews.com/2020/08/05/liberty-county-jail-arrest-report-aug-3-2020/