Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Ghosts from chases past.

You can't make this up. You.just.can't. There was a lawsuit filed over ten years ago that was decided by the Mississippi Supreme Court. The opinion states:

"Wilks was killed at the intersection of Ridgewood Road and Ridgewood Court when the vehicle she was driving was struck by a Toyota Land Cruiser driven by a car thief who ran a red light while being chased by Ridgeland police."

What was the name of the case? Southern Heritage Insurance versus Frazier Construction. Case. You read that correctly. The opinion states:

"One morning, Clayton Frazier, an employee of Frazier Construction, left the keys to a Toyota Land Cruiser owned by Frazier Construction in the ignition of the vehicle while he delivered some papers to an architectural firm on North President Street in Jackson, Mississippi.   During the approximately five minutes Frazier was in the office, Misty Dawn Joyce seized the opportunity and stole the Land Cruiser.   That afternoon, Peggy Wilks was crossing Ridgewood Road through a green light when the Land Cruiser Joyce was driving struck her car violently on the driver's side.   Joyce was fleeing pursuit by the Ridgeland police and had crossed into an oncoming lane of traffic to run the red light she faced.   Wilks was killed in the collision, and Joyce was arrested.   Southern Heritage filed this lawsuit on behalf of its insured, Wilks, claiming Frazier Construction was liable for the negligence of its employee, Clayton Frazier, who was acting within the scope of his employment."

Unbelievable. Now if it had been Claiborne THAT would've been really freaky.

28 comments:

Curt Crowley said...

Here's another one of Ridgeland PD's greatest hits

Houston, we have a problem.

Anonymous said...

Oh Sheddyfool... Hello? Is there an echo in this room? What was that? This is a personal issue? Dunce.

Curt Crowley said...

Ridgeland PD has some bad luck when it comes to chases. They also have difficulty telling the truth in search warrant affidavits.


And it wasn't Soto, so save the bad apple BS.

Some highlights from the opinion.

A Ridgeland officer "mislead the judge with false statements in order to secure this warrant.

The Ridgeland officer "signed a sworn affidavit...in order for the judge to issue a search warrant. In this affidavit, the officer swore to two different statements that were untrue and he later testified under oath at a suppression hearing to the
opposite of what he swore to in this affidavit."

The opinion makes for good reading. A Ridgeland officer lied about a suspect refusing a breath test, and further lied about whether the suspect had been placed under arrest at the time the search warrant was issued.

Come on, Jimmy Houston defenders. Please tell us some more about how awesomely awesome Jimmy Houston is, and how I must just have a personal problem with him. Convince us that he hasn't run the department into the ground, that all these incidents are no reflection on his leadership and how it's not his fault that this culture of lawlessness and abuse exists on his watch.

Anonymous said...

That was Claiborne Frazier!! The newspaper just got his name wrong.

Anonymous said...

Officer Derrington railroaded Sam. Let's make sure this scumbag has his name out there.

Anonymous said...

Was this the retired teacher who was killed?

Shadowfax said...

Just to be clear, Commish, I would not know Jimmy Houston if I bumped into him in Wal Mart. Most of what I've heard regarding Houston was on this board back during the sheriff's race and subsequent fallout over his re-hire. Save the pity party. I still say it's obvious you have a personal hard on for the chief, but then I wouldn't know you if I saw you either.

KaptKangaroo said...

Shadow, it is obvious who you have a "personal h--- on for" here on JJ. Thanks for being clear.

Anonymous said...

If the idiot above wasn't so rabidly looking for ammo and took the time to read he would see both of these incidents were under another chief.
He could be right but he's not proving it this way.

Anonymous said...

@6:12, was Houston the Chief in December of 2002 when Derrington lied in the affidavit, or May of 2004 when Derrington lied at the suppression hearing?

Did Derrington lie in the affidavit or at the hearing?

Am I the only person who thinks its sad that Ridgeland police lie so much that people get confused trying to keep up with their lies?

Anonymous said...

there exist a blockbuster video tape of ridgeland's finest at work on the midnight shift

Anonymous said...

Jimmy Houston has been the Chief since 02. Derrington is his. Own it.

Anonymous said...

I wonder...If the unarmed non-violent burglar (property thief) Mr. Crowley held at gunpoint had decided to run in fear, then was struck and killed by a car as he crossed the street, would Mr. Crowley be held liable for his death?

Anonymous said...

What about other police departments and their chase histories?

Anonymous said...

Shadow obviously has his anonymous feewin's hurt.

Anonymous said...

It was the Christmas season. Peggy was Christmas shopping. Her car was stationary waiting for the light to change.

Jamie Boyll, too, was at an intersection waiting for the light to change.

I didn't know the other victims of pursuits gone wrong, but I feel privileged that my path crossed that of both Peggy Wilks and Jamie Boyll.

They were remarkable women who worked tirelessly and generously in their communities to improve the quality of life for all of us.

Many who never met them, benefitted from their intelligence, thoughtfulness, energy and effectiveness.

Their value to everyone far exceeded that of catching petty criminals.

I'm sure those who knew the other victims of these senseless pursuits could also speak of wonderful lives lost.

How many more productive lives must be lost to chase either stupid teenagers or petty criminals who will be eventually caught anyway ? Cars stolen by teenagers , groceries,driving without a license, attempting to forge a check and failing...these are the types of criminals that draw the attention of police...the dumb criminals.

Susan Purdy

Shadowfax said...

No hurt feelings Anon-10:47. Too old for that. I just detest ignorance, arrogance and hidden agendas. And I don't give one whit who displays it. They all need to be called out.

Anonymous said...

Great comments, Susan.

Kingfish said...

Both of you KNOCK IT OFF or else by Jupiter's cock I will have both your heads and split them in twain without any exchange of coin.

Curt Crowley said...

@9:39, on a similar note, I wonder if a frog had wings would he still bump his butt when he landed.

Btw, my perp was what the law calls a "violent habitual offender", not non-violent as you suggest. The law also does not consider burglary "non-violent."

The topic of this post is Ridgeland pd, not me.

Anonymous said...

The FBI has studied police pursuits.

They found the following:

The majority of pursuits are triggered by a traffic violation.

1 person dies everyday from a police pursuit.

Between 1994-98 1 police officer was killed every 11 weeks in a police pursuit.

1% of all police officers killed in the line of duty died in a police pursuit.

42% of all those killed in police pursuits are innocent bystanders.

The FBI pointed out there are limited ways to stop a pursuit. They are tire deflation,a precision immoblization technique and deadly force. Precision immoblization ( PIT) requires training.

The adverse effect of the adrenaline rush on an officer's vision, hearing , motor skills and decision making was noted.

When police stop a pursuit " NO significant increase in the numbers of suspects who flee occur".

In light of these facts, I am at a loss to understand why anyone would support police pursuits where no basic policy exists but rather the go/no go is left up to an officer untrained in this area.

The " solution" our MS legislators chose was to make flight from the police a felony. This was AFTER Peggy and Jamie were killed . Clearly, this was NO solution at all as there have been at least two more fatalities of which I am aware since that law was enacted.

Misty Dawn Allen was a runaway teenager. She saw keys left in the truck owned by Frazier Construction and likely saw it as an easier way to get to wherever she wanted to go without one thought to consequences. Teenagers aren't good with considering consequences. Good parenting helps them with that.

I am uncertain what value to society would have been gained or lessons learned had the current law applied to Misty Dawn Joyce.

I'm only certain about two things. That 1)Peggy and Jaime would have researched police pursuits before publicly taking a position and 2) Peggy and Jaime were excellent parents who got their children safely through the teenage years and should have been here to be role models for their grandchildren and to pass along their wisdom to future generations.

Susan Purdy

Shadowfax said...

I don't know Susan but she makes excellent points and presents her points well. Thanks for that. What a refreshingly reasonable person.

KF: I unaware of Jupiter's Cock but damned if I want to encounter it so I will follow your admonition. ;-]

PS: I don't support such pursuits and wish there were an auto-trigger that would kick in and grant instant, good-judgement to all involved when these things start. It would be a good thing is cruisers were equipped with some sort of disabling device that could work like a taser, only for autos.

Anonymous said...

Houston, was not the Chief when this wreck happen, and the suspect ran when saw a RPD unit. The office never gave chase.

Anonymous said...

Houston, was not the Chief then the suspect fled when she saw a RPD unit the officer never activated his blue light or gave chase.

Curt Crowley said...

535pm, the Supreme Court said she "ran a red light WHILE BEING CHASED BY RiDGELAND POLICE."

KaptKangaroo said...

Was Houston working in the department?

Kingfish said...

No. Houston was NOT the chief back then. I think, and I could be wrong, he was at Flowood then. I just found the coincidence with Claiborne too good not to post.

Anonymous said...

KF...I don't know of a Clayton Frazier who worked with the company.
Are you sure this isn't a mistake in the transcription of the document ?



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