The Los Angeles Police Department has admitted to being in pursuit of a car involved in a deadly crash. This comes first denying it was part of a police chase. The crash took place on Aug. 19 and killed 35-year-old Janisha Harris, a mother of two, and 38-year-old Jamaree Keyes, a father of five. The police went back from their initial denials after pressure from the victims’ families to release footage of the accident.
Videos show the incident the suspect fleeing police runs a red light and T-bones Harris and Keyes’ BMW. Police says the suspect, Matthew Sutton, 20, was going 68 miles per hour when he drove through the intersection.
Tanya Keyes, Jamaree’s wife says what she seen on the video was “horrific.” The victims’ families want the driver and the LAPD to be held accountable for what happened.
“I can’t really say that it’s closure, but at least we have the truth,” Tanya Keyes said.
LAPD dash and body-camera video display police cars chasing Sutton for more than a minute before he runs the final red light. Police turned the sirens and lights on and off intermittently, but they decided to end the pursuit and turn off the lights and sirens about four seconds before the collision, CBS Los Angeles reported.
“The officers turned off their police vehicle’s emergency lights and sirens, indicating they would no longer be attempting to stop the vehicle,” Capt. Kelly Muniz said in the released footage.
The attorney for the victims’ families’ Jasmine Mines says the officers were still in pursuit of Sutton once they turned off the emergency signals.
“Even though the sirens were off, the officers were clearly still in pursuit. Initially, the LAPD officers stated they retreated and there were 15 seconds from the time they retreated to the time of the collision that ended in fatality. LAPD stated they were not engaged in any chase,” Mines said.
The officers chased Sutton and three passengers by foot after the crash.
However, hours after the accident, LAPD Public Information Officer Jeffrey Lee denied the collision was caused from a police chase.
“We want to be clear. This was not a pursuit, OK? This was not a LAPD pursuit. Officers never went in pursuit. They just activated their lights and sirens to do a traffic stop and that vehicle just took off,” Lee said.
The police says is now doing an investigation into the chase, which they say may take months to finish.
Sutton was arrested for vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, fleeing a police officer’s motor vehicle causing death and hit-and-run driving causing injury to another person. Sutton also had an outstanding burglary warrant and is now being held on $550,000 bail.
“They lied on several occasions, and I just want them to own up to what they did and give justice because at the end of the day, you have two innocent people who lost their lives to something that could have been prevented,” Jamaree’s widow told KTLA 5.
Black Man Killed in Police Chase Widow Says LAPD Lied About Pursuing Suspects in Car Chase
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