Grimes County — Deputy Office Injured Fiery Crash During Chase
Posted on Tuesday, January 29th, 2019 at 9:03 pm
On Monday, January 28, 2019, a fiery crash occurred in Grimes County that injured a Grimes County Sheriff’s deputy.
According to police reports, deputies were dispatched to a residence on 7500 block of CR 232 where the residents claimed that an individual had arrived at the house and made threats to his estranged wife. He later left the residence on a Yamaha motorcycle.
During the search, Sheriff’s Deputy Reed Edelman spotted the motorcycle on State Highway 30 near Tenaska and began to pursue the motorcycle. The driver of the motorcycle rapidly accelerated away from the officer.
The chase continued throughout many FM roads and state highways, and because of the wet roadways at the time, Edelman lost control of his vehicle, so he veered off the driveway, overturned a few times, hit a tree, and then finally caught fire. Luckily, the deputy managed to get out of the vehicle.
Edelman sustained injuries such as fractures of the vertebrae. He was released on Tuesday from the hospital and is now recovering at home.
The motorcycle was spotted approximately one mile north of the accident, and he was taken to the Grimes County Jail where he was charged with the offense of Evading Arrest with Vehicle Causing Serious Bodily Injury.
It is great to hear that Deputy Reed Edelman is now recovering after this accident. Unfortunately, there are other victims who aren’t as lucky. Police car chases are common in the U.S.; in 2012, an estimate of 68,000 vehicle pursuits was reported. Additionally, it’s also common for police chases to end in death or injury. In fact, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, from 1996 to 2015, an average of 355 people — about 1 person per day — were killed every year in pursuit-related accidents. A third of that number are innocent bystanders, which suggests that police chases kill more people every year than tornadoes, lightning, and hurricanes combined, and a USA Today investigation has reported that chases kill black people – both as innocent bystanders and as the target of the pursuit — 3 times more than anybody else.
Additionally, according to statistics, about 16% of car accidents are crashes where the vehicle leaves the road and crash into a tree/lamppost/etc. Lamppost and tree collisions are considered to be generally serious, considering that they comprise 31% of vehicular accident fatalities.
The leading causes of these crashes are operator error and pedal error. Operator error means drivers accelerated too much or were speeding or were in the wrong gear, while pedal error usually means the driver made the mistake of stepping on the gas pedal instead of the brake. Aside from these two, other possible causes are drunken driving, traffic accidents, and even the weather and age of the driver.
If you are a victim of this kind of car accident, or you know someone who is, then please don’t hesitate to ask for help. The police will be there for you, but more than that, car accident lawyers are willing to help you in protecting your rights and in getting you the justice that you deserve.
