Ex-Detroit police officer who killed attorney in crash was in 3 previous crashes

Ex-Detroit cop who hit and killed prominent attorney in crash was in 3 previous accidents prior

Teaira Funderburg's driving record includes seven pages of citations, suspensions and crashes culminating with the one that took attorney Cliff Woodards' life. The question being raised why wasn’t something done to keep her from behind the wheel.

DETROIT (FOX 2) - The ex-Detroit cop who killed a prominent attorney in an on-duty car crash was involved in three other crashes in the years leading up to it.

Teaira Funderburg's driving record includes seven pages of citations, suspensions and crashes culminating with the one that took attorney Cliff Woodards' life. The question being raised now, why wasn’t something done to keep her from behind the wheel.

Funderburg was sentenced to one year of probation after pleading no contest for the deadly collision.

"Maybe if somebody had picked up page one or two, we don’t have to get to page seven," said attorney Arnold Reed.

Reed is representing Cliff Woodards’ family in a $50 million wrongful death lawsuit against Funderburg and the city of Detroit.

"Cliff ain’t coming back, but we can do something hopefully to make sure this doesn’t happen again," said Reed. "We can do something to make sure officers are vetted more rigorously before they get behind the wheel."

After racking up a number of speeding tickets, Funderberg had her driver’s license suspended in 2010, and again in 2011.

She joined DPD in 2016 and was involved in a crash in November 2018. Funderburg was involved in a second crash while on duty a month later.

DPD determined that crash was preventable and Funderburg was disciplined.

Cliff Woodards

Fast-forward to December, 2020, and Funderburg is behind the wheel of a scout car struck by a drunk driver. She was not at fault in that crash, but she would be two months later.

While rushing to assist other officers in a non-emergency, non-life-threatening situation, Funderburg ran a red light colliding into Woodards' car.

"And now we’re sitting here talking about what a great guy Cliff was, what a good lawyer Cliff Woodards was," Reed said. "We’re talking in past tense and it just didn’t have to be."

Dispatchers and even Funderburg's partner told her to stand down before the crash as she raced to assist other officers.

Reed believes she should not have been behind the wheel to begin with.

"You can’t give somebody your vehicle if you know that person is either incapable, unfit to drive," he said. "And this is ample evidence that this was clearly something, Randy, that was preventable if someone had taken a bit of a closer look."

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FOX 2 reached to DPD for comment about Funderburg’s driving records and those crashes leading up to the death of Cliff Woodards. It typically doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but a spokesman says our inquiry is being turned over to their Office of Professional Standards for further review.