INDEPENDENCE, MO - Two families whose loved ones were injured during a police pursuit of a fleeing suspect earlier in May are asking the Independence Police Department to consider reshaping their pursuit policy in light of the crash that left four seriously injured.
On the afternoon of May 16, Independence Police officers were involved in a pursuit of a fleeing suspect in a Chevy Tahoe who reportedly crashed into a Mitsubishi Outlander at the intersection of Lee’s Summit Road and Truman Road, resulting in the Outlander flipping over.
Four individuals from two separate families were inside the Outlander at the time of the crash, two of whom sustained life-threatening injuries. Nohemi Segura says her daughter-in-law was driving with her son, Andy, revealing her son suffered severe injuries and admitting she doesn’t know what will come of her daughter-in-law.
“Did you see my son right now? Still, he just barely talks. It’s not right. We don’t know what’s gonna happen with my daughter-in-law or my son. Two little kids, I mean,” Segura stated.
Michelle Dowell is also the mother of one of the women who was inside the Outlander at the time of the impact, describing her shock when she realized her daughter was among the wreckage at the intersection.
“I looked over there, and it looked like her legs. I started walking over there, and she had one of my business shirts on. I’m like oh my god, that’s my daughter right there. I mean, this is the craziest thing. Oh my gosh, I can’t believe they lived through that for real,” Dowell said of the incident.
Both Dowell and Segura are urging Independence Police to review their pursuit policy, which currently permits officers to pursue fleeing suspects for anything from traffic violations to non-violent felonies.
In Dowell’s eyes, the risks outweigh the benefits, saying, “It’s just too risky. I mean, four people could have died.” Segura mirrored those sentiments, saying she hopes the department considers overhauling the pursuit policy for the sake of other families who could avoid such a tragedy.
The pursuit policy of the Independence Police Department has been under scrutiny in recent months, as previously reported in Law Enforcement Today this past January, when the department came under fire for a New Year’s Eve pursuit over alleged traffic violations that claimed the life of a bystander.
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