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Ramon Terrill Broomfield

Age : 43

Gender : Male

Race : Black

Date : 03/13/2021

Location : County Road 30 near County Road 542

City :

County : Columbia

State : Arkansas

Agency : Columbia County Sheriff's Office

Officer(s) :Deputy Hunter Scott; Deputy Jordan Hanson

Cause of Death : Vehicle

Event : ATV driver killed in police chase crash

OPEN RECORDS SUMMARY :

REASON FOR CHASE: Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Hunter Scott observed Ramon Broomfield and another person operating ATVs on a public highway.
NARRATIVE:
On 03/13/2021, Ramon Broomfield was killed when the ATV he was operating crashed during a Columbia County Sheriff's Office pursuit on County Road 30 in Columbia County, Arkansas.

Broomfield and his wife, Kimberly Broomfield, had attended a large ATV riding event at a residence on County Road 30. They subsequently left on separate ATVs, with Broomfield riding alone and his wife's niece riding as a passenger on his wife's ATV.

Shortly after 7:00 p.m., Columbia County Sheriff's Deputy Hunter Scott saw the two ATVs enter and begin traveling on the highway. Scott got into his patrol vehicle, activated his emergency lights and siren and pulled behind the ATVs in an attempt to stop them. The riders continued traveling down the road.

Scott radioed Deputy Jordan Hanson, who was on duty in a vehicle farther along their route, and told Hanson that he was following the ATVs and attempting to get them to stop. When the ATVs approached Hanson's location with Scott following behind with his emergency equipment activated, Hanson activated his own emergency lights and siren and joined the pursuit.

Hanson pursued Broomfield's ATV on County Road 30. According to the account subsequently accepted by the federal court for purposes of the defendants' summary-judgment motion, Hanson at one point intended to discontinue the pursuit but decided to make another attempt to bring Broomfield to a controlled stop. Hanson passed the ATV on the left and positioned his patrol vehicle ahead of it before reducing his speed.

According to Hanson's account, Broomfield accelerated and moved around the patrol vehicle, left the roadway and crashed into trees. Broomfield sustained severe injuries. Deputies arrived and attempted CPR, and Columbia County ambulance personnel subsequently took over emergency medical treatment. Broomfield was pronounced dead.

The Arkansas State Medical Examiner determined that Broomfield died from multiple blunt-force injuries and classified his death as accidental.

Broomfield's widow subsequently disputed the deputies' account of the fatal crash. In a federal wrongful-death and civil-rights lawsuit, she alleged that Hanson performed an unsafe PIT maneuver or otherwise struck Broomfield's ATV with his patrol vehicle, causing the fatal collision. Hanson denied performing a PIT maneuver and denied that his patrol vehicle ever contacted the ATV.

The dispute was litigated in federal court. On 11/17/2023, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Arkansas granted summary judgment to the defendants. The court concluded that the plaintiff had not produced evidence establishing that Hanson performed a PIT maneuver or struck Broomfield's ATV and therefore could not establish the excessive-force claim. The ruling did not change the undisputed fact that Broomfield's fatal crash occurred during the Columbia County Sheriff's Office pursuit.

The 03/13/2021 Columbia County fatality documented by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Fatality Analysis Reporting System corresponds with the independently documented fatal police pursuit involving Ramon Broomfield.
DISPOSITION:
Broomfield's widow, Kimberly Broomfield, filed a federal civil-rights and wrongful-death lawsuit against Deputy Jordan Hanson, the Columbia County Sheriff's Department and other county officials. The lawsuit alleged negligence, wrongful death, excessive force and other claims arising from the pursuit and disputed alleged contact between Hanson's patrol vehicle and Broomfield's ATV. The federal district court granted the defendants' motion for summary judgment on 11/17/2023.

SOURCE LINKS :

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/arkansas/arwdce/1%3A2022cv01027/65643/35/
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCOURTS-arwd-1_22-cv-01027/pdf/USCOURTS-arwd-1_22-cv-01027-0.pdf
https://www.nhtsa.gov/research-data/fatality-analysis-reporting-system-fars