Testimony: Ex-Warren police officer was driving 117 without lights, siren in deadly crash | FOX 2 Detroit

Testimony: Ex-Warren police officer was driving 117 without lights, siren in deadly crash

A former police officer was in court accused of driving 117 miles per hour, then crashing into, and killing two men.

The backstory:

The families of victims Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis were emotional as footage of the crash that killed the two best friends— played out in court.

"The video’s very hard for the family to watch," said attorney James Harrington, Feiger Law. "The video’s hard for anybody to watch and really the video is the best evidence."

Numerous videos show former Warren Police Officer James Burke hurtling down Schoenherr in the early morning hours of September 30th — before his cruiser crashed into the men's vehicle which was attempting to turn left.

Attorney: "What does it indicate the speed is at this point?"

Witness: "One hundred and 17 miles per hour."

Upon impact Hayden and Pettis' vehicle went airborne for more than 50 feet, according to a crash reconstructionist on the stand.

Burke was charged with two counts of manslaughter and two misdemeanors. His attorney Marc Curtis pointed out flaws in the reconstruction.

"So these actually don’t demonstrate the distance between the Explorer if he would have been doing those times at the point of impact," Curtis said.

"Correct," the crash reconstructionist said.

Victims Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis

"Attention to detail is important in these cases isn’t it deputy?" Curtis said.

"Yes sir," he said.

Coming out in court, it emerged that the left turn Pettis made in front of the police cruiser may have been a civil infraction.

However, the prosecution’s main argument is the police vehicle was going nearly three times the posted speed of 40 miles per hour — without activating lights or siren.

"There was nothing these gentlemen could’ve done to avoid this crash," Harrington said.

The preliminary exam will continue. The defense has two more witnesses and court will resume on July 30th.

Ex-Warren Police Officer James Burke. Inset: Vehicle driven by Cedric Hayden Jr. and Dejuan Pettis.

The Source: Information for this report is from today's court hearing, previous stories and an interview with attorney James Harrington.


 

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