[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
This is f**king ridiculous.
A police officer in Arkansas just flipped over a pregnant woman’s car because she didn’t pull over fast enough! The crash that followed was so bad, Nicole Harper, the driver, believed her unborn baby had been killed in the accident.
In shocking footage of the July 2020 incident (below), Nicole is seen driving past a patrol car, before Senior Cpl. Rodney Dunn turned his lights on to pull her over. Despite what the officer claims, viewers can clearly tell that Nicole instantly slowed down. She also put her turn signal light and hazard lights on to indicate that she was waiting for a safe place to pull over.
Considering the highway which they were on was very narrow and boxed in by large cement railings on both sides of the one-way lanes, Nicole’s thought-process seems reasonable! She wasn’t trying to go far either, there was an exit less than a mile away.
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Nevertheless, Dunn waited very few seconds (127, to be exact) before he enacted a technique called the PIT maneuver, which officers use to stop those fleeing the scene. Pulling up to the corner of her red car, he ended up flipping Nicole’s vehicle onto its roof and into a cement wall! Watch the truly disturbing moment (below)…
Ofc. Rodney Dunn flipped a pregnant woman's car after she didn't pull over quick enough. It's CLEARLY not safe for her to stop on a poorly-lit rural road. She did exactly the right thing but this cop was on a power trip! How is he still employed 1 yr later? #EndQualifiedImmunity pic.twitter.com/cpVTaVmERE
— Ben Crump (@AttorneyCrump) June 10, 2021
The complete disregard for Nicole’s safety in the quiet, calm moments it takes for Rodney to spin his car back around is incredibly harrowing. This nonchalant attitude only continues as Dunn casually saunters up to the car, arguing with the driver who could have been seriously hurt! In a longer recording of the moment (below), Rodney asked the driver suspended upside down in her car:
“Why didn’t you stop?”
Panicked, the 38-year-old shouted back:
“Because I didn’t feel like it was safe! It didn’t look like there was enough room!”
Rodney responded:
“Well this is where you ended up. I’ve got plenty of room out here.”
Are you kidding us?? What is it with cops and their complexes?!?! We know it’s a tough job, but come on…
There are just so many things wrong with this!! When Nicole argued that she “did slow down” and that she “thought [she] was doing the right thing” by waiting for a safe place to exit and pull over, the cop instructed:
“When people don’t stop we have no idea what’s going on inside the vehicle. When people flee from us… that’s what happens.”
As frustrated civilians have pointed out, while Rodney insisted he used the PIT maneuver because of having “no idea what’s going on inside the vehicle,” he showed absolutely no worry while walking up to the car after Harper had been flipped over. Had he been concerned, he may have exhibited a bit more caution, right?! Watch for yourself…
According to Arkansas State Police’s very own Driver License Study Guide, Harper did the right thing!! The instructions tell drivers to “activate your turn signal or emergency flashers to indicate to the officer that you are seeking a space place to stop.” It’s literally step #1!!
Thankfully, Harper went to the OBGYN the day after this incident and her baby’s heartbeat was detected. She gave birth to a healthy daughter in February. But, as she so candidly pointed out in an interview with Fox16:
“In my head, I was going to lose the baby. What if I had kids in the car? He wouldn’t have known. Did that matter? What was going through his head? What made him think this was okay?”
The new mom has filed a lawsuit with attorney Andrew Norwood representing her case. She knows she was speeding, confirming that she was clocked going 84 mph in a 70 mph zone, but feels the tactics used to stop her were uncalled for. Her attorney accused the cop of “deadly force” and actions that “constituted a reckless attempt to engage in conduct that created substantial risk of physical injury.”
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While the state police (who are being represented by the Attorney General’s Office) have yet to comment on the case, Arkansas State Police Director Bill Bryan did provide a lengthy statement on the PIT maneuver, sharing:
“Over the past five years, Arkansas State Troopers have documented a 52 percent increase in incidents of drivers making a conscious choice to ignore traffic stops initiated by the troopers. Instead of stopping, the drivers try to flee. In more populated areas of the state, the incidents of fleeing from troopers have risen by more than 80 percent. The fleeing drivers pull away at a high rate of speed, wildly driving, dangerously passing other vehicles, showing no regard for the safety of other motorists, creating an imminent threat to the public.”
He continued:
“PIT has proven to be an effective tool to stop drivers who are placing others in harm’s way. It has saved lives among those who choose to obey the law against those who choose to run from police.”
But… It seems the police should consider their very own driver’s license guide. There seems to be a major mixup in communication. We’re glad to know Harper and her baby made it out of this mess okay. Unfortunately, she was still charged with speeding and an additional maximum penalty of $400 for failing to yield for an emergency vehicle. Reactions, Perezcious readers? Sound OFF in the comments (below)!
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