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Dallas police Chief Eddie García on Wednesday fired an officer and suspended an officer-in-training after they didn’t immediately stop to help when a car they pursued crashed and caught fire. The chief also fired another officer and a 911 call-taker arrested on DWI charges.
The chief fired Sr. Cpl. Daniel Jamieson, Sr. Cpl. Leonard Anderson and 911 call-taker Zyana Hubbard, Dallas police confirmed. He also suspended Officer Darrien Robertson for 30 days
“These days are brutal,” García said in a text message about the decisions. “The discipline speaks for itself.”
They can appeal the discipline under civil-service rules. It was unclear whether they had attorneys.
Anderson, who had been with the department since 2008, and Robertson were placed on leave in May after they failed to stop and help the driver. Robertson also didn’t immediately clear his traffic mark out upon completion of a call, police said.
Video footage obtained by WFAA-TV (Channel 8) shows the officers at a gas station May 13 at the corner of Meadow Street and Martin Luther King Boulevard in South Dallas.
The footage shows a car drive onto the street without its headlights on. Anderson and Robertson turn on their emergency lights and pursue the car for about 30 seconds before the car speeds away. Anderson and Robertson then stop the pursuit and turn off their emergency lights, and the car crashes.
“That’s his fault,” one of the officers says
Surveillance footage from a four-way intersection down the road shows the car nearly hit a pedestrian and another car, then crashed off camera. About 10 seconds later, a Dallas police car takes a right turn at the intersection, in the opposite direction of the wreck, the footage shows.
Off camera, the car burst into flames after the wreck, but the driver survived, WFAA reported. In the footage, a group carries a person across the intersection, then lays the person down in an open space. Other cars stop and people get out to help.
The chief has previously said he was “embarrassed by the footage.” Body-worn camera footage shows the officers return to the area where the group carried the driver after the car caught fire. About a dozen witnesses yelled angrily. “What if that was your people?” one man says. “That’s not right.”
García told WFAA at the time that the officers wouldn’t face criminal charges because they didn’t cause the wreck — the driver wrecked during an attempt to flee.
Driving while intoxicated
Hubbard and Jamieson were both fired after they were accused of driving while intoxicated, Dallas police said.
Hubbard was arrested in April by Hickory Creek police. Jamieson was arrested by McKinney police in late May and placed on administrative leave.
Jamieson had been with the department since 2008 and was assigned to the Tactical Operations Division. Hubbard worked as a call-taker since 2021, records show.
García has been vocal about his concerns with alcohol abuse in the department.
In September, he implemented a program that allows officers 30 days of paid leave to enroll in a rehabilitation program if they request help for alcohol abuse. The leave must be requested before an arrest or violation of departmental policies and procedures, the chief said.