Just because uninvolved drivers and bystanders who become victims in high-speed police chases are often innocent doesn’t mean they can easily pursue legal action for injuries or deaths.
The plan was for Michael Wayne Jackson and his family to get Red Lobster Dec. 4, 2021 after the father finished his night shift doing road construction and got some rest. But Michael needed a haircut, his wife Janice said, and despite her offers to lend her car or have other family members drive him, he insisted on taking the bus to the barbershop.
Meanwhile, Houston police were chasing five teenage suspects who had allegedly stolen a woman’s car from a grocery store parking lot. Officer Orlando Hernandez and his partner were driving between 80 and 100 mph through the city’s Sunnyside neighborhood to assist in the pursuit, the Houston Chronicle reported.
According to the crash report, Hernandez was driving down Reed Road “at a unsafe speed for the roadway conditions” and “performed a faulty evasive action to avoid stopped traffic” when he drove onto the sidewalk and hit Jackson, who was walking. The 62-year-old died on impact…