Pedestrian Killed in Drug Investigation Police Chase

by Phillip Smith
StoptheDrugWar.org
Jul. 29, 2014

An Ohio man walking to his job was struck and killed by a vehicle being driven at high speeds as it was being chased by police doing a drug investigation. Agyasi Ector, 27, becomes the 27th person to die in US domestic drug law enforcement operations so far this year.

According to WDTN 2 TV News, citing law enforcement sources, Trotwood Police began chasing a vehicle "as a result of a drug operation." During the chase, the fleeing vehicle reached speeds of up to 100 mph, Captain John Porter said.

The vehicle crashed on Shiloh Springs Road near Olive Road, where Ector was walking. He was struck by the vehicle and killed.

The two men in the fleeing vehicle, who have not yet been identified, were treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital. Police said they face possible charges of murder and felonious assault.

Captain Porter said that despite the fatal result of the high-speed pursuit, police did everything right.

"It wasn’t the officer that crashed in this," he said. "It wasn’t the officer that lost control in this particular situation. We prepare the officers very specifically on policy and procedure, and as far as we can tell from our preliminary investigation, our officers followed all of those policies and procedures."

WDTN 2 TV News obtained a copy of the department's pursuit policy. It says pursuits should be called off if "the risk of continuing the pursuit is greater to the member and the community than the risk the suspect poses to the community if they escape."