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Patsy S. Arnold

Age : 73

Gender : Female

Race : White

Date : 06/04/2021

Location : U.S. 50 Highway near Milton Thompson Road

City : Jackson County

County : Jackson

State : Missouri

Agency : Lone Jack Police Department

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Bystander killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

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REASON FOR CHASE: A Lone Jack Police Department officer clocked a red 1999 Ford Ranger at approximately 89 mph in a 65-mph zone near U.S. Highway 50 and Lakota Lane. The officer attempted a traffic stop and initiated a pursuit. During the pursuit, police ran the truck's license plate and determined that it had been reported stolen.
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NARRATIVE:
On 06/04/2021, at approximately 12:38 p.m., a Lone Jack Police Department officer attempted to stop a Ford Ranger on U.S. Highway 50 after clocking it at approximately 89 mph in a 65-mph zone. When the driver continued westbound, the officer initiated a high-speed pursuit that continued approximately five miles through daytime highway traffic.
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Lone Jack police continued the pursuit as speeds increased and the Ranger weaved through traffic and entered the grassy median. During the pursuit, police determined from the license plate that the Ranger had been reported stolen. Lone Jack police requested assistance from Lake Lotawana Police Department, whose officers prepared to deploy stop sticks ahead of the pursuit.
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As the pursuit approached the Lake Lotawana officers' position east of Milton Thompson Road, the Ranger entered the grassy median before reaching the stop-stick deployment. The Ranger crossed the median into opposing eastbound traffic and became airborne.
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Patsy “Pat” Arnold, 73, was traveling eastbound on U.S. 50 in a 2020 Ford Escape with her sister, Sherrie Huhs, 64, in the front passenger seat. Arnold was returning home to Smithville when the Ranger crossed into the eastbound lanes and struck her vehicle. The Ranger also struck another vehicle before overturning in a ditch.
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Arnold sustained fatal injuries and was airlifted to Research Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead at approximately 2:28 p.m. Huhs was injured and transported to a hospital. The driver of the other vehicle, a 30-year-old woman, sustained minor injuries. The fleeing driver also survived with injuries.
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Jackson County Sheriff's Office personnel apprehended the fleeing driver after he left the crashed Ranger and ran into a wooded area. The Missouri State Highway Patrol, which had not participated in the pursuit, investigated the fatal collision.
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Arnold's husband, Bob Arnold, a retired Kansas City Police Department officer and detective, publicly challenged Lone Jack police over the decision to continue the pursuit through highway traffic. He questioned why officers continued a high-speed chase after obtaining the Ranger's license plate and argued that police created a greater danger to the public by continuing the pursuit.
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Lone Jack Police Department was operating under a pursuit policy dating to 2005 that permitted officers to pursue stolen vehicles and required officers to weigh the danger created by a pursuit against the danger of allowing the fleeing person to remain at large. After Arnold's death, Lone Jack substantially restricted its pursuit policy, limiting initiation of pursuits to violent felonies.
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CIVIL LITIGATION:
Lone Jack subsequently paid Arnold's family $441,000 to settle civil claims arising from the fatal pursuit, the maximum civil award allowable under Missouri law.
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DISPOSITION:
The fleeing driver was Francois C. Orloff. Prosecutors charged him with second-degree murder, resisting arrest by fleeing police and tampering with a motor vehicle. Orloff later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced on 06/24/2026 to 15 years in Missouri state prison.
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TOTAL FATALITIES/INJURIES: 1 fatality, 3 injuries

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/suspect-charged-with-murder-in-deadly-crash-following-police-chase-on-u-s-50
https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/suspect-suffers-critical-injuries-in-crash-on-u-s-highway-50
https://www.kshb.com/news/local-news/investigations/kc-metro-police-department-policies-vary-on-pursuits-over-stolen-cars
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article251964923.html
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article252114963.html
https://www.jacksoncountyprosecutor.com/m/newsflash/home/detail/1110
https://www.kmbc.com/article/1-person-seriously-injured-after-crash-while-lone-jack-police-missouri-in-pursuit-of-stolen-vehicle-on-us-highway-50-1622860583/36636577
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article281420643.html