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Douglas Onsare Osiemo

Age : 39

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 07/02/2021

Location : West Arkansas Lane and South Cooper Street

City : Arlington

County : Tarrant

State : Texas

Agency : Pantego Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed in crash during police pursuit

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

EASON WHY PURSUIT WAS INITIATED:
At approximately 9:15 p.m., a Pantego Police officer attempted to stop a maroon 2011 Buick LaCrosse on Arkansas Lane near Bowen Road. Dash-camera footage later showed the officer approaching the Buick during the attempted traffic stop before the driver suddenly accelerated away. Public reporting does not establish what violation or other specific reason prompted the officer to make the original traffic stop.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 07/02/2021, a Pantego Police officer attempted the traffic stop less than two miles west of the intersection where 39-year-old Douglas Osiemo would be killed. When the Buick accelerated away, the officer initially followed it. Pantego Police subsequently said the officer discontinued the attempt after the Buick passed South Fielder Road at high speed. The department cited the dangerous conditions and its
REASON FOR POLICE CHASE:
No vehicle insurance. A Pantego Police Department officer was running license plates when the officer determined that the registered owner of a maroon Buick LaCrosse did not have insurance. The officer attempted a traffic stop near Arkansas Lane and Bowen Street. The driver accelerated away, and the Pantego officer activated emergency lights and siren and pursued for approximately 32 seconds before terminating the chase because of the Buick's extreme speed.
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OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY:
On 07/02/2021, 39-year-old Douglas Onsare Osiemo of Arlington was killed while working as a food-delivery driver when a Buick LaCrosse that had just fled a Pantego police traffic stop crashed into his Toyota Camry at West Arkansas Lane and South Cooper Street. Osiemo had no connection to the Buick, its driver or the police encounter.
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Shortly before the crash, a Pantego officer attempted to stop the Buick after a license-plate check indicated that its registered owner lacked vehicle insurance. What began as a minor traffic enforcement encounter turned into a pursuit when the driver accelerated away.
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The Pantego officer pursued with emergency lights and siren for approximately 32 seconds. As the Buick accelerated to extremely high speed, the officer lost sight of it and terminated the pursuit near South Fielder Road. The fatal collision occurred approximately 1 to 1½ miles farther east.
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After the officer terminated the pursuit, witnesses reported seeing the Buick continue east on Arkansas Lane at speeds exceeding 100 mph and run several red lights.
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At approximately 9:15 p.m., the Buick entered the intersection of Arkansas Lane and Cooper Street at high speed and struck Osiemo's Toyota Camry. The impact forced Osiemo's vehicle into a nearby parking area, where it collided with parked vehicles, including a box truck. Osiemo was pronounced dead at the scene.
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Investigators later recovered data from the Buick's airbag control system showing that it was traveling 88 mph approximately 2.5 seconds before impact.
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The Buick's driver left the wreckage and ran from the scene. Early witness accounts suggested two people had been inside, but investigators later determined that 42-year-old Charlton Harris was the Buick's sole occupant. Police recovered identification and work documents bearing Harris's name from the vehicle, along with a 9mm handgun and a partially consumed bottle of cognac.
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Osiemo was working for a food-delivery service when he was killed. He and his wife, Jackline Meraba, had immigrated from Kenya to Arlington approximately eight years earlier. They were raising three children, ages 9, 5 and 1. Osiemo worked two jobs and was the family's sole financial provider.
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His relatives remembered him as exceptionally hardworking, kind, helpful, gentle and soft-spoken. After his death, members of the local Kenyan community organized support for his wife and children and worked to return his body to Kenya for burial.
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After Arlington police released surveillance images, an anonymous Crime Stoppers tip helped investigators identify Harris. Arlington officers assigned to the U.S. Marshals North Texas Fugitive Task Force located him at a motel in Grand Prairie on 07/16/2021 and arrested him.
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Harris was charged with murder and leaving the scene of a collision involving death. Pantego authorities also pursued an evading-arrest charge arising from the original traffic stop and pursuit.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Pantego Police Department officer who attempted to stop Harris and pursued the Buick for approximately 32 seconds has not been publicly identified in the contemporary reporting, arrest-warrant coverage or other publicly indexed material located for this case.
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DISPOSITION:
Charlton Harris was criminally charged in connection with the crash that killed Douglas Osiemo. The Pantego officer was not criminally charged for the officer's role in initiating the pursuit.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.fox4news.com/news/arlington-police-continue-search-for-driver-who-killed-father-of-three
https://www.fox4news.com/news/search-continues-for-driver-who-fled-following-fatal-crash-in-arlington
https://www.fox4news.com/news/video-shows-person-of-interest-connected-to-fatal-arlington-hit-and-run
https://www.fox4news.com/news/arlington-police-arrest-hit-and-run-driver-who-killed-father-of-three
https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/arlington-police-person-interest-deadly-hit-run/
https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/charlton-harris-faces-murder-charge-and-more-in-fatal-high-speed-hit-and-run/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/07/16/man-arrested-on-murder-charge-in-high-speed-arlington-hit-and-run-that-killed-motorist/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2021/07/06/arlington-police-seek-publics-help-identifying-person-of-interest-in-fatal-hit-and-run/
https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/crime/article252609878.html
https://www.wbap.com/2021/07/07/arlington-police-release-video-of-person-of-interest-in-fatal-hit-run-crash/
GoFundMe:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/douglas-onsare-osiemo-go-fund-me-sendoff