The police don’t always get the credit that they deserve and at times, they may even do things that cause people to question their motives. This was true recently when a police car chase turned deadly.
It started after 20-year-old Dion Lamar Taylor tried to steal a car in his local area and then fled from the scene. The suspect ended up dying in the police chase and he only lived about one block from the crash site.
The mother of the young man who died, Teisha Cook spoke about the moment that she learned her son had been killed. It occurred when a Baltimore County police car ran into the car that was fleeing the scene of the crime.
The mother said: “The whole time I’m trying to find my son not knowing that he was underneath the car, and I’m running around looking for him, and I couldn’t find them, and I’m calling in and I’m texting him and there was no response. My son was running through the street up here, police came this way, and one came that way crashed into them and then ran him over.”
The police report that Taylor was with two other suspects when they carjacked a pizza delivery person just before 4 o’clock in Woodlawn. Police identified the car shortly after and chased the vehicle from Essex and Liberty Road to Northern Parkway and Highgate Dr. in Baltimore County.
During the chase, a handgun was thrown out of the window and later recovered. The suspects traveled to the intersection of Northern Parkway and Liberty Road, where they jumped out of the moving car.
One of the Baltimore County police cruisers hit the car that was abandoned. Another vehicle was chasing after the suspects. As Taylor turned down Highgate Drive, the cruiser struck him.
According to Cpl. Shawn Vinson of the Baltimore County police, “From what we can tell at this point, there’s nothing that shows that this officer intentionally struck the suspect.” They also said that the police followed protocol during the chase and they weren’t able to release additional information because of the investigation.
The mother, however, is demanding answers. She said: “He was not a criminal. My son was a homebody.”
16-year-old Taron Kelly has been arrested because of the incident. He is being charged with armed carjacking, armed robbery, possession of a handgun, motor vehicle theft, and being a minor in possession of a handgun. At this point, he is being held without bond and is charged as an adult.
There is another suspect that is still at large. An investigation is currently underway by the Baltimore city police and the officer responsible is now on routine administrative leave.