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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 6, 2011 20:31:30 GMT -5
I'm pretty upset about this. I heard from my cousin on Friday about this incident that occurred here early last Wednesday evening. The cyclist's home, Prescott, is 33 miles East of Nashville www.texarkanagazette.com/news/2011/03/04/motorcyclist-killed-in-high-speed-police-876612.phpThe police vehicle is in the wrong lane as if the officer was trying to head off the rider. As it turned out the officer was judge, jury and executioner for a speeding/reckless driving infraction. The city and officer Steeley hopefully will be held to account for this needless death. If you can't read the words in the text boxes they read: On Left: Yellow fairing embedded in grill of Durango. On Right: I fear this divot was caused by rider's helmet. EDIT: But after more thought it seems to be the shape of the motorcycle's rt. mirror. I'm sure the motorcycle was going 100+ mph.
 Here are bits of fairing, chromed plastic (although the chrome did not show up in the photo) and headlight lens (with ball point pen for perspective) I picked up today in the grass along side the accident scene.  While I was reviewing the scene today a new Yellow Mustang pulled a little ways back behind my scooter. The girl who got out had just returned from the young victim's funeral. I gave her a piece of the yellow fairing I had found. She agreed that her friend had died needlessly. She said that the guy was nice and was not a trouble maker. If the fleeing subject had been in an automobile I'm sure that officer Steeley would not have dared pull into his path. This is shameful. I found the wrecked motorcycle and Durango in a fenced impound area by the police station. They were both wrapped in silver tarps. The older brother's Honda CBR 600 (red & white) was in there also. Sorry, I didn't take pictures. |
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Post by speedy1125 on Mar 6, 2011 20:44:42 GMT -5
Very disturbing to say the least. An indictment for murder against the officer is warranted in my view.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 6, 2011 20:52:31 GMT -5
He, being a police officer, will, as usual, get away with a slap on the wrist of course. But we can always hope for true justice.
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Post by 90GTVert on Mar 6, 2011 21:02:44 GMT -5
That's sad. I couldn't read the full article on your link, because it wants you to subscribe to view. I did find comments and more info on other sites... www.arkansasonline.com/news/2011/mar/03/motorcyclist-killed-howard-county-collision/?news" The Dodge Durango was a Nashville City Police Vehicle and James Steeley ia a Nashville City Police Officer. Why did Arkansas State Trooper Corporal Jamie Gravier, Badge # 345, leave that FACT out of his Arkansas State Police Preliminary Report? One of the Witness's stated Nashville City Police Officer James L. Steeley PURPOSELY drove the Dodge Durango City Police Vehicle into the motorcycles legal oncoming lane and CAUSED the head on collision just as he stopped in the motorcycles legal on coming lane. Another Police Car was already stopped in the lane next to the one Officer Steeley stopped in giving the motorcycle driver no place to go to avoid the head on collision that killed him. Surely there will be Criminal Investigation. Police can't kill you for speeding or fleeing! Or can they?" www.abc24.com/mostpopular/story/Motorcyclist-Killed-in-Crash-While-Running-From/PpiyIQezYE687sKnwwoNmQ.cspx" Nashville police told the Texarkana Gazette that Biddle and another motorcyclist were weaving across the road and passing vehicles on both sides of the highway. The second motorcyclist - Biddle's brother Drake Biddle - was arrested at the scene for fleeing." www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=146604&provider=top" I might add, the police car was not moving, it was setting still with all light blinking, the police hoped that he would stop, the bikers were passing cars both on the right and left, hitting speeds of up to 120 MPH. I believe the speed limit in that area is 45 MPH and the traffic can be quite heavy in that area at that time of day. A dash board camera recorded the whole incident. I was told that no one would see it except for the parents if they requested." If they were running from the cops and the car was parked to block... it sucks for his family, but he knew the risks of what he was doing. Most of us know it when we do dumb things, sometimes we just do it anyway, and sometimes we pay. If the cop pulled in front of him intending to hit him... :censored: that cop. That's the kind of crap I'd expect from other countries (youtube will show you exactly what I mean), but not here. I knew a guy that ran from the cops on his sportbike and got caught. He spent 6 months in jail. He did not get the death penalty. |
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Post by 90GTVert on Mar 6, 2011 21:05:42 GMT -5
On the cop being penalized... there were a few incidents involving state troopers around here in the past couple of years where they hit other motorists. If you read the stories, it was clear that the cops were at fault. Because they were state troopers though, no cause for the accidents could be determined or they were deemed unavoidable. One of them involved a trooper rear ending another car at a high rate of speed. Unless the law has changed here, pretty much no matter what the person that rear ends the other person is at fault. I must not have read the asterisk text for that law that said *unless it's a cop.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 6, 2011 21:39:23 GMT -5
Here is the text from the artical you could not link.
Motorcyclist killed in high-speed police chase
By: Eric Nicholson - Texarkana Gazette
NASHVILLE, Ark.—A Prescott, Ark., man is dead after his motorcycle collided head-on Wednesday with a responding police car during a high-speed chase.
Andrew Biddle, 20, was northbound on Arkansas Highway 27 when his motorcycle hit a Dodge Durango driven by Nashville police officer James Steeley at 6:15 p.m., according to a release from the Nashville Police Department and a preliminary Arkansas State Police crash report.
Biddle was pronounced dead at the scene. Steeley, 44, was not hurt.
Biddle and another motorcyclist were being pursued on Cassady Street, near the Tyson processing plant. The chase continued onto Highway 27, where the motorcyclists weaved across the road at high speeds, passing vehicles on both sides of the highway.
The chase ended after 1.5 miles when Biddle crashed.
The other motorcyclist, Drake Biddle, Andrew’s 22-year-old brother, was arrested at the scene for felony fleeing and taken to the Howard County Jail. Charges are pending.
State police Cpl. Jamie Gravier is investigating the accident. He referred questions to agency spokesman Bill Sadler.
Sadler would not say when the investigation would be completed.
Any decisions about a leave of absence or disciplinary action against Steeley are left up to the police department, he said.
Nashville police declined to comment beyond a press release.
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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 6, 2011 21:49:11 GMT -5
Here is copy from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Twelve hours later, a Prescott man was killed while leading police in a high-speed pursuit on his motorcycle.
Andrew Biddle, 20, of 2985 Hempstead County Road 16was riding north on Arkansas 27 while fleeing from a Nashville police officer when he struck a car head-on at Collins Road, the report states.
Biddle was dead at the scene, state police said. The driver of the car, James Steeley, 44, of Nashville, was not injured.
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Post by Fox on Mar 6, 2011 21:52:39 GMT -5
All I have to say is that if there is any justice anymore, the cop will be indicted on federal charges for violating his civil rights, the family will receive a large sum of money from whatever municipality they were in and the cop will do some prison time but as previously stated he'll prolly get off with some lame-ass punishment because they will lie on the stand saying the biker was weaving and the "officer" was trying to "avoid" a collision and he hit the officer.  Dammit! Don't get me started! |
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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 6, 2011 22:47:17 GMT -5
I did note that there were no skid marks from the cop car at least. The police did not have far to go from the police station to the location of the accident. Probably less than a mile and on wide, uncongested streets. The so called hwy 27 is actually a bypass connecting the north and south ends of town. The collision occurred about 1/4 mile from the north end of the bypass where there is a traffic light. The police station is only about 3 blocks to the west from that light so they (if they were at the station) actually only had to go about 1/2 mile. It is a terrible tragedy and if a road block was being set up (that fact was not revealed in the local paper either) why wasn't that fact brought out? The local paper reported Steeley's responding vehicle to be "south bound".
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Post by Fox on Mar 6, 2011 23:20:57 GMT -5
Running from the police is NOT an offensive action but they act like it is. They all need to be trained that it's a reactionary fight or flight action and that it's not personal. The guy may be a bad actor but they don't know that for sure. He might just be a guy that had a breakdown or a guy that's drunk. The point is is that you don't have to get emotionally involved because a guy is driving too fast but the cops take it personally. I drive too fast most of the time. Here in L.A. the flow of traffic is 70-75 usually and I'm passing people most of the time... Small town cops don't have anything to do for long stretches and when they get a pursuit call the are like dogs going after a chew toy. They react instead of acting. There's no need to get all adrenaline rushed out because a guy is driving too fast on a bike or in a car.
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Post by 90GTVert on Mar 7, 2011 6:12:30 GMT -5
I think the areas that have no pursuit laws after X speed (usually around 100MPH) are ahead of the game. Get the tag number if you can, then let 'em go. Go arrest them tomorrow. It's better to lose out on a fine completely and even let someone get away with this than to kill that person or have a cop in pursuit kill or injure anyone. In Baltimore city, they just leave bikes alone to avoid chases in such a crowded area. Literally, some folks do burnouts and such by cops and the cops don't do anything. Outside the city they'll still pursue... Here's a guy that was ran over and killed by a cop on his bike recently, after the chase was called off in Baltimore County.... and they've actually decided to prosecute the officer.... articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-03-03/news/bs-md-co-beall-motorbike-death-20110303_1_officer-in-fatal-accident-police-car-police-cruiser |
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Post by Goosey on Mar 7, 2011 7:42:10 GMT -5
We have those rules here. I am very bothered by the lack of accurate reporting in those articles too. The omissions give a false idea of what happened. The officers had to realize when blocking both lanes, what would happen.  |
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Post by 2strokd on Mar 7, 2011 9:35:48 GMT -5
I am very sorry to hear of this :no: .
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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 7, 2011 16:00:35 GMT -5
We have those rules here. I am very bothered by the lack of accurate reporting in those articles too. The omissions give a false idea of what happened. The officers had to realize when blocking both lanes, what would happen. If the Durango was stationary it had to have just pulled into place going by the time line.... motorcycles go 1.5 miles at around 100 mph. Cops go 0.5 mi. at around 50 - 60 mph. That would put them in that spot at approximately the same time. The motorcycles were chased from A to B. Assuming the police were in the station they supposedly traveled from C to B and had to run out and jump in their cars after receiving the call. maps.google.com/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=East+Cassady+Street,+AR&daddr=AR-27+N%2FAR-27+Bypass+N+to:33.948558,-93.84241+to:33.9475642,-93.8468425+to:Nashville+City+Hall,+Nashville,+North+Main+Street,+AR&hl=en&geocode=FaqzBQId7hFo-in5zHDJR5s0hjE1s66pyy-koA%3BFT_vBQIdRiRo-g%3BFY4DBgIdFhRo-iklHtyDbZs0hjG8XWMi1fZ-9Q%3BFaz_BQIdxgJo-in7wfq9Eps0hjGmtMZJ-RYjRQ%3BFaj-BQIdJAJo-iHAp4G7CgX_NQ&mra=dpe&mrsp=3&sz=14&via=2,3&sll=33.937023,-93.840494&sspn=0.032044,0.055189&ie=UTF8&z=14 |
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Post by stepthrutuner on Mar 7, 2011 21:37:19 GMT -5
Just thought I would post this from today's local paper.  |
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