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Samuel Holmes IV

Age : 41

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 08/30/2025

Location : Interstate 35 northbound, south of Brighton Avenue

City : Kansas City

County : Clay

State : Missouri

Agency : Missouri State Highway Patrol

Officer(s) :Not Disclosed

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : Driver killed by police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

On 08/30/2025, at approximately 1:20 a.m., 41-year-old Samuel Holmes IV of Kansas City, Kansas, was driving a silver Chevrolet Tahoe north on Interstate 35 south of Chouteau Trafficway when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper began following him. The patrol said the trooper observed the Tahoe failing to remain within a single lane and nearly striking a guardrail several times. Those observations—not a later offense during the pursuit—were the specific reason the trooper initiated the traffic stop. Police said the trooper suspected Holmes was impaired.
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Holmes initially pulled over for the trooper. According to the Highway Patrol, he then drove away from the traffic stop and the trooper pursued him north on Interstate 35. The pursuit lasted approximately one minute and covered roughly one mile.
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At approximately 1:21 a.m., south of the North Brighton Avenue exit, the trooper deliberately struck the rear portion of Holmes' Tahoe using what the Highway Patrol calls a Tactical Vehicle Intervention, or TVI, which is the agency's term for a PIT maneuver. The maneuver is intended to make the targeted vehicle lose directional control.
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The police maneuver caused Holmes to lose control of the Tahoe. The SUV left the right side of Interstate 35, entered a ditch and overturned. Holmes was ejected from the vehicle during the rollover and died at the scene. The Highway Patrol reported that it did not believe Holmes was wearing a seat belt.
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The Highway Patrol initially withheld Holmes' identity and released it after his family had been notified. On 09/01/2025, the agency identified him as Samuel Holmes IV, 41, of Kansas City, Kansas. His funeral-home obituary independently confirms his identity, age and date of death and states that he was born January 29, 1984, in Kansas City, Kansas. Holmes was the father of four children and owned a transportation business.
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Because the trooper intentionally struck Holmes' vehicle immediately before the fatal rollover, the Highway Patrol classified the incident as a fatal use of force. The trooper was placed on paid administrative leave while the incident was investigated. The Highway Patrol's Division of Drug and Crime Control investigated the trooper's use of force, while its Major Crash Investigation Unit reconstructed the fatal crash. The completed reports were to be forwarded to the Clay County Prosecutor's Office for review.
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The incident occurred shortly after the Highway Patrol began training troopers in the TVI program in July 2025. Contemporary reporting noted that the program had begun only about a month before Holmes was killed.
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OFFICER BACKGROUND
The Missouri State Highway Patrol has not publicly identified the trooper who pursued Samuel Holmes IV and used the PIT maneuver that caused the fatal crash.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/suspected-drunk-driver-dies-in-crash-after-missouri-highway-patrol-trooper-used-maneuver-to-end-car-chase
https://www.kmbc.com/article/mshp-investigating-after-clay-county-traffic-stop-turns-deadly/65939105
https://www.kshb.com/news/crime/troopers-id-man-killed-early-saturday-after-maneuver-caused-crash-on-i-35-in-clay-county
https://www.kctv5.com/2025/08/30/suspected-drunk-driver-killed-when-missouri-trooper-uses-tactical-maneuver-end-chase/
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article311922799.html
https://www.sfhkc.com/obituaries/samuel-holmes-iv