Search fatalities

Name Not Disclosed

Age :

Gender : Female

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) :Unknown

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Passenger killed by police chase crash after attempted traffic stop

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/24/2023, shortly after midnight, a Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office deputy responding to an unrelated call noticed three vehicles stopped together with their headlights off along the Interstate 30 service road near T.L. Townsend Drive in Rockwall. The deputy notified another deputy about the vehicles.
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The second deputy located the three vehicles traveling north on T.L. Townsend Drive. According to the Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office, the deputy observed several traffic violations and activated emergency lights to initiate a traffic stop. The three vehicles separated and drove in different directions, and the deputy pursued a black Dodge Charger.
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The Dodge Charger was driven by Willie Lee Rankin III. The pursuit continued north on State Highway 205 and west on State Highway 78 through Wylie and Sachse toward Garland. Authorities subsequently determined that the Charger had been reported stolen from Lewisville and said investigators believed the other two vehicles were also stolen.
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The pursuit continued into Garland. As Rankin attempted to enter the President George Bush Turnpike from State Highway 78, he lost control of the Charger. The vehicle struck a concrete barrier and crashed. Rankin was killed in the collision.
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An unidentified female passenger in the Charger was critically injured. She was transported to a hospital, where she subsequently died from her injuries. Contemporary reporting did not publicly identify her.
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The available contemporary reporting identifies Rankin as the driver and the woman as his passenger. A much later secondary accident-report article published under the name of a personal-injury law firm identifies a 24-year-old Michael Madrid as one of the people killed and describes a woman as the driver. That account conflicts with the contemporary reporting and does not identify the official record on which its different identification is based.
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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/