Law enforcement continued to follow suspect after KC police say they called off chase
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Kansas City police said they called off a chase on Interstate 435 moments before a fatal head-on wreck, but traffic cameras show several patrol vehicles had followed the vehicle with their emergency lights on after the chase was allegedly terminated.
In a recording captured at 4:24 a.m. Tuesday, at least a dozen police cars are seen responding.
Another video shows a driver heading in the wrong direction on the divided highway around 4:28 a.m. Less than 20 seconds later, a police car with its emergency lights activated is seen in the correct lanes of travel. Several more patrol vehicles follow, according to footage from SafetyVid.com, which monitors and records traffic camera videos, in this case from KC Scout.
Moments later, the driver crashed into another car.
Alphonso Carroll, a 60-year-old innocent bystander, was killed in the head-on collision on I-435 near Missouri 210 highway.
The fleeing driver, Ollie Coldiron, 29, also died.
According to Officer Alayna Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for the Kansas City Police Department, the chase began near the Ameristar Casino Hotel Kansas City after a series of armed robberies at three Northland convenience stores.
“The primary pursuing officer terminated/disregarded himself from the pursuit, by continuing to travel in the correct lanes of the highway ultimately losing sight of the driver,” Gonzalez said in an email to The Star.
Under the Kansas City Police Department’s pursuit policy, officers are permitted to chase parallel in the correct direction on a highway. Also, when a chase is terminated officers are to deactivate their lights and sirens, resume a safe speed and comply with traffic laws.
Gonzalez declined to disclose what time the chase began or was disregarded, but went on to say that “it is not uncommon for officers to move into the area with lights and sirens in order to assist with the apprehension of a violent and dangerous subject.”
It’s unclear how many Kansas City police officers moved into the area to assist. An officer who witnessed the crash was moving into the area and was not involved in the pursuit, she added.
Gonzalez also said the Clay County Sheriff’s Office and the Missouri State Highway Patrol were involved in the pursuit.
Sarah Boyd, a spokeswoman for the Clay County Sheriff’s Office, said deputies got involved at 3:39 a.m. after a man robbed a gas station and fired two shots next to the clerk.
One of the deputies located the suspect exiting Argosy Casino at 4:22 a.m. Three Kansas City Police Department vehicles got in front of him and took over the pursuit, Boyd said.
Four deputies were involved at different points in the pursuit and two were in the area at the time of the crash, Boyd said.
According to Sgt. Andrew Bell, a spokesman for the highway patrol, one trooper was initially involved. The trooper fell behind two other police cars, joining the chase on 210 Highway at Ameristar Drive.
As the pursuit continued north on US-69 highway, the trooper lost sight of the suspect and deactivated his emergency lights. He heard the crash while listening to his police radio and responded to the crash scene, Bell said.
This story was originally published January 5, 2024 at 3:27 PM.
