The city of Dallas is being sued by the family of an innocent motorist who lost their life in a collision caused by a police pursuit suspect.
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Anthony Welch was an innocent driver who died from the impact of a high-speed police chase crash.
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His wife, Dee, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
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The couple s children say they are suing because they want to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.
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Anthony Welch was an innocent driver who died from the impact of a high-speed police chase crash.
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His wife, Dee, remains hospitalized in critical condition.
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The couple s children say they are suing because they want to prevent this kind of thing from happening again.
DallasThe city of Dallas is being sued by the family of a man who was killed when a police chase suspect crashed.
Dallas police chase ends in deadly crash
The backstory
On January 16, Anthony Welch lost his life in an automobile accident on Interstate 35E close to Red Oak.
He was traveling at a high speed when a wanted murder suspect struck the car he and his wife, Dee, were in.
At the site, Anthony passed away. Dee suffered serious injuries.
After pointing a gun at Dallas police officers and attempting to flee the scene of the collision, the suspect, 29-year-old Gabriel Cerna, was shot.
Cerna is still in the hospital as well.
Following his release, he will be charged with aggravated robbery, capital murder, and fleeing arrest and put into the Dallas County jail.
Victim s family files wrongful death lawsuit
What they’re saying:
The Welch family is being represented by lawyer Quentin Brogdon.
“Their kids are really heartbroken. “What has happened here has devastated the family,” Brogdon added. “As we are talking here today, Ms. Welch is fighting for her life in a hospital where she s lost her husband.”
On behalf of the family, the lawyer sued Cerna and the city of Dallas for negligence and wrongful death.
It claims that by pursuing Cerna on the interstate, the officers endangered spectators, including the Welches.
“The police should have saved the arrest for another day based on the facts of this police pursuit. At 10:30 a.m., they were pursuing this criminal suspect at great speed for more than 2.5 miles on the congested I-35E highway, where there were numerous other vehicles and traffic. “It was dangerous,” Brogdon declared.
The family is requesting damages of at least $1 million.
Innocent person killed after Dallas police chase ends in crash, shooting in Red Oak
A Dallas police pursuit of a murder suspect resulted in a collision and shooting near Red Oak, killing one innocent person and gravely injuring another.
The opposing viewpoint:
The law of qualified immunity may make it difficult for the Welch family to take the city of Dallas to court.
The National Conference of State Legislatures states that qualified immunity “protects state and local officials, including law enforcement officers, from individual liability unless the official violated a clearly established constitutional right.”
Brogdon is still optimistic that his clients will win.
“The legal distinctions made by police personnel are not unrestricted. “Officers must exercise reasonable caution and refrain from reckless behavior that puts the public in unnecessary danger,” he stated.
Dallas police chase policy
We know:
Suspects involved in violent felonies or those who the officer believes pose an urgent threat to public safety may be pursued by Dallas Police Department officers.
According to the affidavits for Cerna’s arrest, he is the suspect in a December murder in Mesquite and an armed robbery that took place at a shoe store in Dallas.
He had outstanding warrants, so on the day of the chase, undercover DEA operatives saw him in the passenger seat of an SUV at a gas station and alerted Dallas police.
At that time, undercover Dallas policemen started secretly pursuing him and summoned uniformed officers and a police helicopter to perform a criminal traffic stop.
According to the affidavit, the driver of the SUV pulled over on the side of I-35E as soon as the conspicuously marked Dallas police squad cars arrived.
Cerna is accused of pushing the female driver out of the SUV, “causing her to fall out in the middle of the highway,” and then driving away after disobeying orders to get out.
The chase was approved “due to the severity of the violent offense,” according to the affidavit, by a Dallas police sergeant.
What is unknown to us:
Regarding the chase, Dallas police have not made any comments.
Additionally, the dash and body camera footage of the officer-involved shooting has not yet been made public.
Both the Dallas Police Department and the city of Dallas indicated in a statement on Tuesday that they would not comment on ongoing legal matters.
The Source: The Welch family’s wrongful death lawsuit, interviews with their lawyer, arrest warrant affidavits, jail records, and previous press coverage are the sources of the information in this piece.
