A string of high-speed police car chases resulted in at least eight deaths and several injuries over a span of less than a week, marking the latest deadly incidents in an upward trend of police pursuit fatalities in the United States.
In Texas, police said a man died early on Sunday, April 5, after fleeing from officers and crashing off the roadway.The Montgomery Advertiser, part of the USA TODAY Network, reported that four people died after a driver attempted to evade a state trooper and struck a tree in rural Alabama on Friday, April 3.
In Southern California, authorities said three people were killed in separate incidents last week after local law enforcement tried to pursue two suspects who then collided with other vehicles.
Hundreds of people die each year during police pursuits, according toexperts and research. The longstanding police practice has faced criticism for years.
A study published inThe Journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA) in 2024 found that research spanning from 1982 to 2020 "suggests an increasing trend in fatalities resulting from police pursuits" in the United States. In a2023 report, the Police Executive Research Forum, a police research and policy organization, called high-speed vehicular pursuits "one of the most controversial and dangerous police activities."
Citing data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the report noted that there were more than 2,200 fatal vehicle crashes involving a police pursuit from 2015 to 2020. The report recommended that law enforcement agencies only conduct pursuits when a violent crime has been committed and the suspect poses an imminent threat.
"While officers’ decisions to initiate or continue a pursuit are driven by an understandable desire to catch a fleeing suspect, this desire sometimes results in excessive risk-taking and negative consequences for officers, innocent bystanders, the motorist being pursued, and any passengers in either vehicle," the report states.
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Driver dies after fleeing from Texas police
In anews release, the Fort Worth Police Department said officers were involved in a vehicle pursuit that resulted in a fatal crash at about 2:34 a.m. local time on April 5. Officers attempted to conduct a traffic stop after seeing a vehicle driving without headlights, striking another vehicle on Interstate 35, and failing to stop.
The driver fled from officers and then hit another vehicle, according to police. The suspect then exited the highway and later crashed off the roadway.
Officers located the vehicle and found 2 men, including a passenger who sustained minor injuries and the driver, who was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. The passenger was transported to a local hospital with his injuries.
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No other injuries were reported in the incident, according to police.
4 killed in Alabama while evading state trooper
Capt. Jeremy Burkett, a spokesperson for the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, confirmed to the Montgomery Advertiser that four people died after the driver allegedly tried to evade a state trooper in Pike County.
Tykevious Russaw, 27, was driving with three other passengers in his 2022 Hyundai Elantra, Burkett said. He identified the passengers as Robert Hall, 27; Quamay Richardson, 24; and a 17-year-old whose name was not publicly released.
The incident occurred at around 11:57 p.m. local time on April 3, when Russaw's vehicle left the roadway and struck a tree while attempting to evade a trooper, according to Burkett. He said Russaw, Hall, and the 17-year-old were not wearing seat belts at the time of the crash, causing all three of them to be ejected.
Richardson was the only passenger not ejected, Burkett said. All four passengers in the vehicle were pronounced dead on the scene after the crash.
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3 dead after drivers crash into bystander vehicles in Southern California
In Pomona, California, a city in eastern Los Angeles County, police said a domestic violence suspect who tried to flee from officers crashed into another vehicle on April 1, according toThe Los Angeles TimesandCBS News Los Angeles.
The couple inside the bystander vehicle, a 26-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman, were killed in the incident. Both the Times and CBS News Los Angeles reported that the couple was days away from the birth of their first child.
In San Clemente, California, a coastal city in Orange County, the sheriff's department said in anews releasethat deputies were attempting to stop a U-Haul van with no license plates that was reported stolen on March 30. When deputies tried to stop the vehicle, the sheriff's department said the driver accelerated and collided with an SUV about less than half a mile away.
The driver of the SUV was killed in the crash, and her three passengers were transported to the hospital in critical condition, according to the sheriff's department. The suspect ran from deputies and was later arrested, while the passenger of the stolen U-Haul remained at the scene and was also taken into custody.
Contributing: Sarah Clifton, Montgomery Advertiser
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Police car chases across the US resulted in at least 8 deaths
