Former DPD Chief Eddie Garcia told WFAA at the time of the incident that he was appalled and embarrassed by the actions of two Dallas Police Department officers.
DALLAS — A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed against two Dallas police officers who were accused of chasing a driver and then failing to render aid after he crashed into a tree.
On March 6, U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay dismissed the lawsuit filed by Tomyia Crenshaw against officers Leonard Anderson, Darrien Robertson and the city of Dallas, according to documents obtained by WFAA.
The lawsuit – which alleged Crenshaw’s constitutional rights were violated via excessive force and police failed to render medical aid – was referred to a magistrate, who determined Crenshaw’s “allegations did not constitute a seizure under the Fourth Amendment, and the officers had no duty under the Fourteenth Amendment to stop and render aid.”
“The magistrate determined that [Crenshaw’s] myriad claims of municipal liability against the City of Dallas similarly fail because he has not alleged a plausible constitutional violation upon which the City’s municipal liability can be based, that is, [Crenshaw] does not plausibly allege that the City of Dallas maintained any unconstitutional policies or that such policies were the moving force behind his injuries,” the judge’s order continued.
Lindsay accepted the magistrate’s findings and dismissed the case, the order stated.
Dash camera video obtained by WFAA showed that, in the early morning hours of May 13, 2022, Anderson and Robertson spotted a car taking off from a convenience store without its headlines on. The police then followed that car out of the store’s parking lot, turning their siren and lights on to indicate that the driver pull his car over, the video showed.
The driver, however, did not pull over. Instead, his car took off at a high rate of speed and a brief chase ensued, according to the video. Because of department policy – namely, that the subject of the pursuit was not wanted for, nor being pulled over for, a violent felony offense – the officers quickly broke off their pursuit.
But the lawsuit stemmed from what happened, or didn’t happen, in the immediate aftermath of their decision to no longer pursue the vehicle.
Dash camera footage from the police car clearly shows that the vehicle the officers had been chasing along Martin Luther King Boulevard could be seen jumping a curb and crashing along the side of the road immediately after the police car turned off its lights.
Additional security video showed that the driver blew through a stop sign and swerved to avoid a pedestrian before losing control. Nineteen seconds later, that same security video showed the officers’ car approach the intersection where the crash happened and leave the scene.
Other people who witnessed the crash helped rescue the driver after the vehicle became engulfed in flames, according to police.
The Dallas Police Department also acknowledged that the two officers did not stop to help the crash victim. Through audio from the officers’ dash camera video, Anderson and Robertson can be heard talking to each other about the crash. Anderson was driving at the time.
“Did you see that?” Robertson asked.
“That’s his fault,” Anderson replied.
When addressing the incident nearly two weeks later, Garcia said the two officers returned to the crash scene after they learned the vehicle had caught fire. Body camera footage obtained by WFAA showed the officers arriving at the scene and asking a group of people nearby about the victim. The group was angry and aware that officers had been chasing the victim prior to the crash.
Former Dallas Police Chief Eddie Garcia said at the time he was appalled by the officers’ actions and commended the civilians who helped the crash victim.
“I’m embarrassed for the men and women of this department,” Garcia said. “This is not what we stand for.”
The Dallas Police Department declined to comment about the lawsuit’s dismissal. In November 2022, Anderson was fired and Robertson was suspended for 30 days. Those disciplines have since been reversed. Dallas police told WFAA that officer Robertson is assigned to Northeast Patrol and officer Anderson is assigned to the Property Unit.
