Medical examiners recently confirmed that a 62-year-old pedestrian on a sidewalk died from “multiple blunt force injuries” after Houston police officers struck him with their patrol car during a vehicle pursuit.
At 4:49 p.m. on Saturday, a 41-year-old woman reported that five teenagers robbed her purse at gunpoint before stealing her Ford pickup truck. Around 5:39 p.m., Houston police officers attempted to pull over the pickup truck and began to pursue the fleeing suspects.
According to Houston Police Executive Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite, one of the patrol vehicles lost control during the pursuit and drove onto the sidewalk before striking a pedestrian recently identified as Michael Wayne Jackson, 62. After hitting the pedestrian, the patrol vehicle stopped after running into a dumpster in a parking lot.
Satterwhite confirmed that the pedestrian was pronounced dead at 5:51 p.m.
“The officers were responding to a violent felony,” Sean Teare, an assistant district attorney for the county, told reporters. “That is something we are going to take into account…We are not going to treat this case any different because it involves officers. It involves a human being who lost his life. So we’re going to be looking at it through that lens.”
Three of the suspects were arrested and charged with aggravated robbery. Two of the suspects still remain at large, according to police officials.
On Monday, medical examiners identified the pedestrian as Michael Wayne Jackson. His primary cause of death was “multiple blunt force injuries,” while his manner of death had been listed as a motor vehicle accident.
Police officials have refused to disclose the names of the officers responsible for killing Jackson. According to Teare, the case will be presented to a county grand jury to determine if any charges are merited against the two officers in the patrol vehicle.
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