Cop Flips Pregnant Woman's Car While She Tries To Pull Over Safely
An Arkansas State Police trooper used a PIT maneuver on a woman who had allegedly been speeding
Erin Marquis
Today 12:53PM
https://jalopnik.com/cop-flips-pregnant-womans-while-she-tries-to-pull-over-1847062704

A woman in Arkansas is suing a State Police trooper who flipped her vehicle while she was trying to find a safe place to pull over. She wants to change how and when the police department applies the PIT maneuver against drivers and fleeing suspects.


The dashcam video released this week is so incredibly frustrating. The woman behind the wheel, Nicole Harper, was driving home on I-67 last year when seasoned veteran of the State Police force Senior Cpl. Rodney Dunn attempted to pull her over for speeding. Fox16 has what happened next:

Dunn says she fled, Harper clams she was trying to find a safe place to stop on a section of interstate that has a reduced shoulder.

Dash camera video from Dunn’s patrol car showed Harper pulled into the right lane, slowed down, and turned on hazards.

Less than two minutes after turning on his blue lights, Dunn performed a PIT maneuver, which caused Harper’s car to crash into the concrete median and flip.

“In my head I was going to lose the baby,” said Harper, who was pregnant with her daughter at the time of the crash.

Dunn’s body mic recorded him talking with Harper after the crash.

“Why didn’t you stop?” Dunn questioned.

“Because I didn’t feel it was safe,” Harper said. Dunn responded, “well this is where you ended up.”

Harper went on to say, “I thought it would be safe to wait until the exit.” Dunn said, “no ma’am, you pull over when law enforcement stops you.”

We all know police chases are totally worth it, but this one is particularly worth it because Harper was actually doing exactly what she was supposed to do. You can see Harper slow her car down and flip its hazard lights on. There really wasn’t much of a shoulder to speak of for her to pull over on; she’s all the way over and still half-way into the right lane. For her own and the officer’s safety, it makes no sense to stop sticking half way out into a lane. Dunn’s own squad car doesn’t make it completely on to the shoulder on this stretch of highway.

Anyone could see this isn’t a safe place to stop, but Dunn gave Harper all of two minutes before he nudged her car, sending it across all lanes of traffic, into the median and eventually onto its roof. She was less than a mile from the nearest exit with a wide shoulder. Harper’s lawyer is arguing she was attacked with a deadly weapon, all for doing exactly what the Arkansas State Police’s Driver License Study Guide says you are supposed to do. From Fox16 again:

The lawsuit points to the dash camera video, arguing it showed how Harper signaled she wanted to stop.

“I feel like I had heard that’s what you do, you slow down, you put your flashers on and you drive to a safe place,” Harper explained.

Turns out that’s textbook what to do according to State Police’s “Driver License Study Guide.”Under

“What to do When You Are Stopped,” number one says to use, “emergency flashers to indicate to the officer that you are seeking a safe place to stop.”

After the crash, Dunn can be heard saying, “no we don’t anticipate vehicles rolling over nor do we want that to happen.” He went on to say, “all you had to do was slow down and stop.”

Harper responded, “I did slow down, I turned on my hazards, I thought I was doing the right thing.”

Fox16 found a startling rise in the Arkansas State Police troopers’ use of PIT maneuvers. Police used PIT on 144 drivers last year, killing three people. That’s double the rate over 2019.

Very few police forces have strict rules about car chases on the books. Most precincts leave whether to chase a suspect or driver or not up to their officers’ discretion. Those that rely on their officers’ best judgement tend to have higher rates of chases, Appeal found. In this instance, a person who was obeying the law could have been killed along with her unborn child, all thanks to a veteran police officer not knowing the law he is meant to enforce, or being unable to resist performing a dangerous and unnecessary maneuver.


Harper is not alone. Each year hundreds of people are hurt or killed during police chases, the equivalent of one a day according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Police chases are terrible for public safety. The nonprofit FairWarning estimates around 20 percent of police chase-related deaths are bystanders. And often, the subjects of those pursuits aren’t even charged with a crime. Take these stats from New Jersey for instance:

The chases are not yielding arrests for violent crimes either. “Two out of three eluders are not charged with a crime that the FBI tracks as violent, like murder, aggravated assault, robbery or rape,” writes Ford. Among those charged with violent crimes, the most common charge was assault on a police officer, “but most of those charges were dismissed later in court.”


I really hope she wins her case. We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: police stops and police chases both need to end

On the plus side Arkansas has been fortunate in murdering so few. Our local sheriff's has killed more in just this one county than AR did in the whole state.

This would get me fired....maybe I should move to Arkansas? Sounds fun!

Homicide and murder are two totally different things.

Wtf is wrong with her? She deserved to die . . . . . . .

guarantee one of the residents will say this shortly.

Hopefully it is a massive lawsuit and win.

Didn't appear to speed up - used signal - shoulder very narrow there -emergency flasher on . Go full tactical

Lmfao

He was trained in the maneuver and dammit he was gonna use it!

For? If he followed procedure he qualifies for immunity.

Holy crap! A pit maneuver for a speeding ticket?? That's akin to shooting the tires out. Both can cause death pretty fast on the highway.

Practice makes perfect . . .

I think that's it.

She didn’t do what she was told.

He’ll for all we know she may even be unvaccinated.

She got what she had coming!

I can't imagine why he didn't follow up with a mag dump and a head kick !

Wouldn’t have pulled over on that shoulder or stopped in the roadway.

While it may be true that this cop was a dick and it wasn't needed I'd still like to know what the man in blue did to the OP. He seems to search these stories out to post here.

Fuggin Loser.

Aren’t you supposed to chase a suspect for 20 miles through the suburbs at 100mph before initiating the PIT?

He came home to his boyfriend sucking off the fuzz. 😁

"Turns out that’s textbook what to do according to State Police’s “Driver License Study Guide.”Under

“What to do When You Are Stopped,” number one says to use, “emergency flashers to indicate to the officer that you are seeking a safe place to stop.”

He found her a safe place to stop...stupid biatch...upside down against the Median Jersey Wall.

But, heck...she's white, so it doesn't matter anymore.

Sure, turn on the flashers, refuse to pull over, and it's the cop's fault.

Fired and, in all likelihood, I'd be facing criminal charges here. I'm trying to figure out in my head how is justify that use of force, and I'm coming up very short.
I can't remember the last time someone got pitted around here.

I knew it was coming.

Moved to right lane, turned on flashers, slowed down, narrow shoulder . . . . . . . . .kill the bitch.

Unfuqkingbelievable

I called it.

I have experienced a ton - many, many, many - excellent LEOs. Then, we encounter one like this.

That department only required a GED.

Hey, a guys gotta practice, damnit.

So, uh, what stocks and crypto you buying?

Guess he should have performed a pregnancy test first?

GFY

Well, that or maybe let her pull over in a safe place.

Let me guess, she wasnt bleck.

Protect and serve your pay check.

It should get any idiot like that fired. The fact that he still has a job is a f ucking crime.

My point being that pregnancy should have nothing to do with it and should have not been mentioned unless the cop knew.

LOL

You may be on to something, it certainly would explain a lot......

I assume that's sarcasm.

Correct. It would not be within the “totality of circumstances”. That is, unless it’s his love child....

That cop needs to experience some strange things happening to him over a period of time. Dipschitt

My tongue is often in my cheek when I type.

protect and serve

I would have.......on Officer Dunn.

Yeah, but your human with a gift of reason and know the law well.Officer Dunn doesn't even know the easy parts or cares to.

This isn't a court room. The public needs to know that police actions they might approve of if done to certain types of people will also be done to people they would never approve of it being done to, including themselves.

We're not talking legality. We're talking right or wrong and good or evil. That cop was wrong by any reasonable measure even though he is protected by law. He probably even thinks he's doing the right thing and is generally an OK person outside of work. This is evil.

P-o-w-e-r-t-r-i-p!

"YOU PULL OVER WHEN LAWENFORCEMENT WANT YOU TO!"

End of story. She didn't by-Gawd do what HE wanted, when, or how.

Just speculating, but he is likely one of the wife beating LEO's.
The ones that stain the rep for all.

You appear to value the life of a child much like a Nazi valued the life of a Jew. I, on the other hand, believe that all life is precious and should be made known of it's existence, birthed or not. So by my beliefs and thinking that pregnancy should have close to EVERYTHING to do with it. Where is your compassion? Gone, it appears!

[bleep] you.

Gotta agree with Geo here.

The pregnant thing gets old.
Sure, I have extra respect for a woman up the stump.
Take care of her, give her a chair.....
But let anything happen, and the flag goes up like the race card!

Don't think cops are driving around wondering who's knocked up.
Coulda been some one with brittle bone disease.
On, blood thinners.
Rehabbing a bad concussion.
Or just a perfectly healthy 30 year old in a car leaking fluid, ready to light off.
Not about her at all. She did right. Now she's out of the story.

Only about if this cop should have wrecked that car.

Bell curve.

Let me say it for the 100th time........

Some are great, some are terrible, most are trying. Just like whatever job field you work in, or for the worthless boomers workED in......be it doctors, teachers, plumbers, hvac, mechanics, etc.

Humans are imperfect.

What I was speaking to primarily was "My point being that pregnancy should have nothing to do with it and should have not been mentioned". How can a mother who has just been assaulted by an idiot with a badge who will likely go to prison for not knowing the law, not mention she is pregnant? Any and all women who valued the life of their child would immediately tell the moron this so he might help her get to the hospital. But he just said stupid chit You know, like you and GeoW who it appears neither have compassion or respect for the unborn.

Not sure what the standard for immunity is in that jurisdiction but that sure looks either intentional or reckless at best. My guess is that the police agency will be buying her a car or paying her insurance deductible, plus any physical injuries, and pain and suffering. Dude should be fired and possibly facing criminal charges.

I totally get it. If one of my officers pulled something like this, I wouldn’t care who was in the car, it’s not right and shows an inordinate amount of aggression and piss-poor judgment. I’d do everything in my power to make sure they never wore a badge again.

The totality of circumstances doesn’t just mean the exclusion of facts that weren’t known in order to justify the officer’s actions, it also can show a lack of objective reasonableness to justify their actions. What he did, given what was known at that moment, does not pass the reasonable officer standard.

The fact she was pregnant makes this a tragedy, but it wouldn’t be a factor to determine if the officer’s actions were reasonable in terms of criminal liability. The court will only hear the facts that lead up to the use of force.

In this case, he attempts to initiate a traffic stop. She moves her vehicle with emergency flashers on toward the right. The shoulder appears to be narrower than the width of her vehicle. The facts show she didn’t have a safe place to stop. If I were making the stop and she did stop at that location, I would be on the PA telling her to proceed to a safer location. His actions were way overboard in my opinion and he should be charged based on his reckless behavior.

The fact she was pregnant will exacerbate the potential consequences of his recklessness and negligence. This will have it’s value in the civil proceeding.

Both your posts are spot on and, thankfully, very reassuring. Thanks.

I have gotten so tired of this kind of crap. I’ll admit, 15 years ago, I wouldn’t believe people who complained about bad behavior. But, the longer I did the job, my opinions on this stuff has really changed. I no longer pal around with coworkers just because they are coworkers. I’ve found I actually don’t like many of them as people. Its easy to see why some promote and others can’t. Now that I’m in a supervisory role, I don’t put up with stupid crap. When it comes to hiring and probation periods, I’m also really strict. It may not look like it, but this is becoming a more common theme in most areas.

It might easily be said his actions were less acceptable than the woman that mistook her gun for a tazer.

Hers were apperently accidental his were on purpose and could have resulted in two deaths

Good for you.,
Any profession, hell any group, has some bad apples.
No shame in that.
It's how those apples are handled.
That shows the character of the group.

Local orchard sells their less then perfect apples out of big
wooden bins. Fill your 1/2 bushel bag, $8.
Beside the bins are 5 gallon buckets.
If you find a bad Apple, put it in the bucket.
The owners don't stand there and defend the rotten apple.
They look for them, and pull them out of the group.

No rotten apples to cause problems for customers.
No rotten apples to make the whole bin look bad.

I like your style brother!

Thank you.

Doesn't matter, the OP thinks you're a dirtbag just because you wear the blue and a badge.

He's a fugggggin idiot,

I know a county in Georgia that could really use a new sheriff!

Lawsuit: https://www.fox29.com/news/arkansas...-car-going-60-mph-while-she-was-pregnant

The amount of wrong in that PIT could fill a barge.

Dumb ass cop. Probably from the south.

That Troop is a clowning fûck-wad...He’s telling the woman who’s strapped in her car, upside down, that he performed what is called a “PIT Maneuver”.

LMFAO

🦫

And that she should have stopped.

And that the cars don’t usually flip over.

Well, there is that.

Nah, just a regular ol' everyday cop. 😁

Maybe.

In the south.

Now, the anti-coppers will want to take the PIT off the tools list.

Jyst like choke holds or kneeling on a neck.
Tools. With good uses, bad decisions, and risks.
Take care of those who misuse the power.
Don't take the tools from the good cops.

Ironic, not wanting them to have less lethal avenues, lest they abuse them.

We give them guns for God's sake.
And some don't trust them with a stick.

Not. Give them batons and chokeholds and orders to schoot runners and cop fighters but get rid of the few pieces of schiett in blue.

Go home Yankee 🤣🤣

Yes, exactly. But what would the OP have to post about if things like this didn't happen?

When you play stupid games you win stupid prizes. People need to stop running from the law and this kind of crap wouldn’t happen. She well deserved the prize in this game!

Another fuqkin idiot speaks his mind.

It's turned into Us Against Them anymore. In my long life I've never seen cops with more of an attitude. I firmly believe that a lot of the problem comes from hiring combat veterans.

Buddy of mine got a 20 minute chewing out once for using one of those unpaved interstate turn arounds to change a flat. Enforcement said he was a hazard to emergency vehicles even though there was still enough room to squeeze 3 big rigs past.

Personally, I'd encourage young ladies to slow, turn on flashers, and look for a place where others are present before coming to a stop. One often hears of shame police cornering young ladies.

GTFOOH

WTF

Touch a nerve, prique?

L.M.A.O.

One speeding ticket I got was similar but on side streets with no lane to pull over in heavy traffic.

I slowed down, gave a signal, was only driving 30 mph or so. I kept thinking that the police officer may get hit getting out of his car or waling to me because I could not get out of the road. He hit is siren a touch, and I immediately pulled over, turned the engine off, placed the keys on the dash, rolled my window down.

I thought he was going to jerk me out of the car through the window. I told him that we were an extreme traffic hazard on a busy street, and he had to stop talking to me twice to look around for on coming traffic as they tried to navigate around us, with on coming traffic creating a possible head on collision.

He did not give a schitt, I got my ticket, told him to have a nice day and be safe. I hope the guy is still alive. He had already ran my plates prior to the stop, and I had not had a ticket in 10 years, that was 1987..

Moral of the story, don't give a schitt if the cop gets is azz killed if he wants you to pull over in an unsafe place. When they turn the lights on, pull over immediately. If anyone kills the cop, with their vehicle, it their fault not yours.

Obey the police and their signals, they know the risks all too well.

Could be but the better cops I know are former military. It's the too-stupid-to-do-anything-else and soldier-wannabe-but-too-scared types that cause the most problems around here.

She should have slammed on her brakes.

Can I trade up the baton for a D-cell Vegematic Mag-Lite?

15 mph over?!? Heck that’ll get you run over in the a.m. rush!

Pregnant gal’s husband, dad, and brothers need to give dumbass cop something to fret besides his job.

I didn't look at any of it. Was somebody misbehaving ?

I guess the moral of the story is this, pull over exactly where ever you happen to be when the lights flash. Let them deal with what ever bull#hit happens after that.

That's one of the reasons we got all the Move Over Acts. Well, that and they wanted an easy way to set up and entrap people into tickets. There was a big protest against it here in GA, but the law enforcement revenue lobby is a big deal in Atlanta. They just dropped it off the radar and passed it at the last minute like always. That's how we got the requirement for seat belts in pickup trucks and no touching electronics. All are easy revenue generators.

The cop should be brought up for review of his irresponsible actions, found guilty, relieved of his duties, lose his pension, fired ... what he did in this particular incident was unconscionable.



No reasonable Law Enforcement Officer would have done what he did in that incident.

His agency or department is most likely a joke.