Sister of woman killed in crash with state patrol car files suit
The sister of a 26-year-old Hot Springs woman who was killed in 2016 when a car in which she was riding was struck by a speeding state trooper who had his lights and siren turned off has sued the now-retired trooper and the director of the Arkansas State Police.
In the lawsuit filed Friday in federal court in Little Rock, Lori Braun of Lee County, Fla., the administrator of the estate of her sister, Cassandra Braun, is seeking compensatory damages in the Oct. 10, 2016, accident at U.S. 70 and Kleinshore Road in Hot Springs.
The crash occurred about 9:20 p.m. when Trooper 1st Class Brian Burke’s marked patrol unit, a 2016 Dodge Charger, collided with a silver 2011 Chevrolet Malibu driven by Tavon Desean Jenkins, 24, as the Malibu was turning left to exit the highway. The impact ejected Jenkins and Braun, killing them both.
A black-box recorder in the trooper’s car documented that he was traveling at 113 mph 5 seconds before the crash and 98 mph at the time of impact, according to the lawsuit. The speed limit was 45 mph.
Burke was hospitalized as a result of the crash and was still on medical leave two months later, when Prosecuting Attorney Terri Harris announced that no criminal charges would be filed. An internal review that followed ended without any “affirmative job action,” such as a suspension or termination, state police spokesman Bill Sadler said Friday.
He said Burke “is no longer with us,” having retired during the investigation.
The lawsuit, filed by attorneys Andrew Clarke of Memphis and Paul James of Little Rock, and assigned to U.S. District Judge Billy Roy Wilson, alleges that the trooper’s actions violated Cassandra Braun’s constitutional rights by constituting excessive force and arbitrary abuse of governmental power.
It alleges that state police Director William Bryant failed to properly train and supervise troopers, and allowed them to drive patrol vehicles at high speeds when there was no emergency.
According to the lawsuit, Burke was in a parking lot along the highway talking to someone when he saw a vehicle pass by, possibly speeding, with its hazard lights flashing.
After he ended his conversation and walked over to his patrol car, he drove onto the highway with his blue lights and emergency siren activated, it says. But it says he deactivated both after 20 seconds.
The suit contends that the trooper covered 8 miles in the next five minutes, at an average speed of 90 mph, “without any legitimate government or law enforcement justification,” in an effort to catch up to the vehicle.
The suit contends that Burke didn’t contact dispatchers as he sped recklessly through a dark, hilly, winding road outside the city of Hot Springs and then continued into the city, passing cars by driving into oncoming traffic and swerving across the double-yellow line about 15 times.
The suit alleges that the trooper “used his patrol car to engage in a prolonged and dangerous … joy ride” with “total disregard for human life.”