Lawsuit series Part 3: How a high speed Jackson police pursuit resulted in 3 deaths

This is the third part in an occasional series looking at the lawsuits faced by the City of Jackson.

In 2017, local law enforcement was involved in a high-speed chase, which ultimately led to the suspect crashing into another car, killing three innocent people.

According to a civil lawsuit filed in the Hinds County Circuit Court, Tony Harper was fleeing from officers "at a fast rate of speed" traveling west on Robinson Road in northwest Jackson on Jan. 13, 2017. Harper was being pursued by deputies in the Hinds County Sheriff's Department and officers in the Jackson Police Department.

At the same time, the lawsuit states, Virgil Kyles was driving south on Glen Oaks Drive with two passengers, Rose Coleman and Carolyn Sims.

"Virgil Kyles was operating his vehicle making a left turn onto Robinson Road from Glen Oaks Drive (Royal Oaks Drive)," the lawsuit states. "While still being pursued at a high rate of speed by the Hinds County Sheriff's Deputy and the City of Jackson Police Officer, Harper's vehicle collided with Virgil Kyles' vehicle. Both Harper's and Kyles' vehicle came to rest in the grass area of Black (sic) Chapel Church."

Kyles, Coleman and Sims all died as a result of the crash. Harper lived.

The wrongful death lawsuit was filed by the sons of Coleman and Sims, Kenneth Eley and Christopher Sims on Feb. 20, 2018. Carolyn Sims is listed in past media coverage as Carolyn Conerly. Both of the complainants are seeking damages and are suing Harper, Hinds County and the City of Jackson for negligence, saying they are liable for not following proper police pursuit procedures and putting the public in danger, among other reasons.

This is just one of approximately 135 lawsuits the City of Jackson is currently facing. After submitting a Freedom of Information Act request, The Clarion Ledger is reviewing thousands of pages of documents as part of an investigation into the city's lawsuits. As of Friday afternoon, the police pursuit lawsuit filed by Sims and Coleman had not been settled.

Trial is scheduled for July 15, 2024, said Jackson’s City Attorney Drew Martin.

Martin said the city’s investigation indicates that a Jackson Police officer responded to the scene after the accident had already occurred.

“JPD was not involved in the checkpoint or the pursuit, Martin said. “The city is actively defending this matter and does not believe that JPD was in any way involved in causing these tragic deaths.”

The case highlights a controversial subject in the Jackson metro area over the last several years: when is it acceptable for officers to be involved in a high-speed chase?

Part 1 of lawsuit series: Jackson MS unsafe roads led to 13 lawsuits, including 2 wrongful death lawsuits

What is Jackson Police Department's current pursuit policy?

According to the policy received by the Clarion Ledger after submitting a public records request, JPD officers can pursue a vehicle "only when the related offense is a violent felony and when the benefit of apprehension outweighs the risk of injury or death."

"In all incidents that involve high speed driving, the safety of officers and the public must be the primary consideration. In primarily urban and suburban areas such as the City of Jackson, the need to apprehend the offender does not usually outweigh the inherent risks of a pursuit in such a congested environment," the policy further states, which has an issued date of June 1, 2004, but was revised on June 9, 2011.

Sims and Coleman's wrongful death lawsuit does not state what Harper was fleeing from. But a past Clarion Ledger report states Harper was "attempting to elude a roadblock being conducted by Hinds County deputies." It also states that only a Hinds County Sheriff's vehicle was involved in the chase, not JPD. The lawsuit states otherwise.

Part 2 of lawsuit series: City employees sued for car crashes account for 17% of Jackson's lawsuits. See details

If the lawsuit is correct and JPD was involved in the chase, the officers were in violation of the department's policy for police pursuits.

In an interview last week, Joseph Wade, JPD's Chief of Police, said the pursuit policy is in the middle of being revised again due to the department receiving new technology. Wade confirmed JPD officers are only allowed to pursue a vehicle if the suspect committed "a violent, felony crime."

"Technology called StarChase. When we deploy it, it's like a yellow gun ... it's going to deploy a device and attach to your vehicle," Wade said. "Then we can track that vehicle, so we don't have to chase you at a very dangerous or reckless pursuit. So we're in the process of still changing that policy, but the pursuit policy has not been revised yet."

Wade said JPD is starting to train officers on how to use StarChase.

It is unknown what the Hinds County Sheriff's Departments policy is for police pursuits, but past statements from the department say they do have a policy. The Clarion Ledger has submitted a public records request to find out the policy but has not received it.

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Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba agrees that police pursuits should only be acceptable if the suspect committed a violent crime, said City Spokesperson Melissa Payne.

"We are anti-pursuit for minor violations which often spillover into tragic consequences for our community. With the advent of new technology, such as a growing camera surveillance network and tag readers, we can apprehend suspects without endangering the public," Lumumba said in 2022 after a police chase that started in Pearl ended in Jackson and resulted in the death of U.S. postal worker.

Other cities have refused to release police pursuit policy

That U.S. postal worker was Brad Pennington, 32, who was killed in July of 2022 after the mail truck he was driving in Jackson was struck by a suspect fleeing Pearl police. A few weeks later in August 2022, a separate incident occurred. Steven Pearson, 47, was struck and killed on his motorcycle after Pearl police chased a suspect into the neighboring City of Flowood.

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After both incidents, the Clarion Ledger submitted a public records request to the City of Pearl's police department asking for “any city or police department policies regarding car chases and crossing jurisdictional lines when in pursuit of suspects” and “any correspondence, written or digital, between members of the city council or mayor's office and the police department regarding those policies, between the dates of July 21 and the time of receiving this request.”

The request was denied in a written statement by the Pearl Police Department, stating the policies are exempt as “investigative reports” under the Public Records Act. The department also denied that there was any correspondence between city council members or the mayor’s office and the police department regarding the policies.

The Clarion Ledger appealed the denial to the Mississippi Ethics Commission. More than a year later, the commission filed a dismissal order on Sept. 8 saying the City of Pearl was acting within the bounds of Mississippi's Open Records law and were allowed to withhold the department's police pursuit policies.

"The Policy requested is a written procedure to be followed by officers when performing their jobs and disclosure would endanger the life or safety of a public official or law enforcement personnel as well as the public more generally. Put simply, public disclosure of law enforcement response policies would allow criminals the opportunity to pre-plan criminal activity in a manner that seeks to avoid capture," the Ethics Commission's stated in a written response.

This article originally appeared on Mississippi Clarion Ledger: Police chases: Lawsuit against Jackson MS police pursuit policy