Woman sues Arkansas State Police after pursuit led her to flip car while pregnant

3 years ago
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A video showing an Arkansas State police officer causing a pregnant woman's car to flip during a pursuit is going viral.

On July 9, 2020 Nicole Harper was traveling south bound on US Highway 67. Officer Rodney Dunn allegedly clocked harper driving 84 miles per hour in a 70 mile per hour zone.

That’s when he flashed his lights and tried to pull her over. Harper can be seen in the dash cam footage moving to the right lane and putting her hazard lights on. It was two minutes and 7 seconds between the time Dunn turned his emergency lights on to when he executed a PIT maneuver on her vehicle. A PIT maneuver happens when an officer can force a fleeing car to turn sideways and come to a stop. In Harper’s case, the PIT manuever led to her car being flipped over.

In the dash cam footage you can hear Officer Dunn ask Harper why she didn’t stop. She responds by saying “because I didn’t feel like it was safe.” Dunn then asked Harper if she is the only one in the vehicle. Harper replied, “Yes, I’m pregnant.”

Now Harper is filing a lawsuit against the Arkansas State Police hoping to prevent this from ever happening to anyone else.

Her lawyer, Andrew Norwood, said she was unable to safely pull over her car on the right or left shoulder due to concrete barriers and reduced shoulder. There seemed to be no exits or shoulder for Harper to safely exit.

“The Arkansas drivers manual is written by the Arkansas State Police. On page 3 it breaks down what to do if you’re stopped by law enforcement officers. It breaks down verbatim. It’s like she was reading the textbook as she was doing it and she still ended up upside down on the interstate," said Norwood.

Harper was rushed to the ER where doctors were unable to find a heartbeat for her baby.

“I thought I was going to die. I thought this was going to cause me to lose my baby,” Harper said. It was a baby she and her husband had been trying to have for 10 years. “I cry sometimes just looking at her. I’m so thankful that we both survived.”

Norwood said he hopes this case will start a discussion on how Arkansas State Police use PIT maneuvers in the future.

“Anytime I see a police officer I’m nervous and it scares me, and I have never been afraid of the police,” Harper said.

Norwood said it’s a two-prong case.

“We’re not just saying it was excessive force were saying that the force that was done was negligent,” Norwood said.

KATV asked Norwood how this case plays into recent anti-police rhetoric.

“I hate to say this is an anti-police case. I think being a police officer is one of the most noble profession that you can have. I think it’s a thankless job,” Norwood said. “I think this case needs to be ‘OK we have a problem we need to fix this problem.’ The problem is the way pits are done in Arkansas or in this case at least.”

KATV reached out to Arkansas State Police. In a statement they said they cannot comment on a pending lawsuit, but they do continue to instruct and train state troopers in the approved procedures for PIT maneuvers.

Norwood said the lawsuit was filed May 18, 2020 and it could take 1-2 years before it sees a jury trial.

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