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Willie Lee Rankin III

Age : 28

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/24/2023

Location : President George Bush Turnpike near State Highway 78

City : Garland

County : Dallas

State : Texas

Agency : Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office

Officer(s) :Not disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash after attempted stop of reportedly stolen vehicle

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/24/2023, shortly after midnight, a Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office deputy was responding to an unrelated call along the Interstate 30 service road near T.L. Townsend Drive when the deputy observed three vehicles stopped together with their headlights off. The deputy notified another Rockwall County deputy about the vehicles.
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The second deputy located the three vehicles as they traveled north on T.L. Townsend Drive. According to the Sheriff’s Office, the deputy observed the vehicles commit several traffic violations and activated the patrol vehicle's emergency lights in an attempt to stop them. The three vehicles then separated and traveled in different directions.
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The deputy pursued a black Dodge Charger driven by Willie Lee Rankin III. The pursuit proceeded north on State Highway 205 from Rockwall County and then west on State Highway 78 through Wylie and Sachse toward Garland.
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Authorities subsequently determined that the Dodge Charger had been reported stolen from Lewisville. The Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office said investigators believed all three vehicles initially encountered by the deputies were stolen.
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As Rankin attempted to enter the President George Bush Turnpike in Garland, he lost control of the Charger. The vehicle left the roadway and struck a concrete barrier. Rankin and a female passenger were both fatally injured.
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Rankin died as a result of the crash. The female passenger was transported from the scene and subsequently died from her injuries. Because both deaths resulted from the same Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office pursuit, each decedent requires a separate database record.
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Contemporary reporting initially withheld both victims' identities pending notification of their families. Later secondary reporting identified the driver as Willie Lee Rankin III. The original law-enforcement account did not publicly identify the pursuing deputy.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND:
The Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office deputy who pursued Rankin from Rockwall County through Wylie and Sachse and into Garland was not publicly identified in the reporting located for this update.
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SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/local/garland-rockwall-texas-chase-2-people-killed-dodge-charger/287-a6a54ddd-05a8-4cf1-9287-515909984da8
https://sweetjames.com/2023/09/05/willie-lee-rankin-iii-1-woman-killed-high-speed-pursuit-state-highway-78-garlandtx/
https://www.dallasnews.com/news/crime/2023/08/24/2-dead-after-rockwall-county-deputy-chase-ends-with-crash-in-garland-media-reports/