Warren police dashcam video shows cruiser did not hit bystander's car during chase

Warren police release video showing cruiser never hit bystander's car

Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer says video of the actual accident tells the whole story.

WARREN, Mich. (FOX 2) - The Warren Police Department says it did not cause a crash that injured an innocent man and his son during a pursuit - but the suspect did. On Thursday it released dashcam video to confirm it.

On Monday suspect Willie Lee Allen crashed in the chase, then ran from an officer and fired shots at police. On Wednesday, Elijah Hall- an innocent victim, claimed that Warren police rammed Allen's car, which then hit Hall's car.

The Warren Police Commissioner Bill Dwyer said his cops didn't hit anybody.

"That was not true. I watched him hit the side of his car and pushed him into me and even in the pictures, you can see his car was sandwiched into mine," Hall claimed to FOX 2 on Wednesday.

But the video of the actual accident tells the whole story.

"You see the vehicle on the far right is the suspect (Allen's) vehicle," Dwyer said. "The (officer) puts their overheads (lights) on, and the reaction after the overheads go on, he's taking off, because he knows the police are after him.

"So now he is going to make the turn and go east on Eight Mile Road. And now east on Eight Mile Road, you'll watch it on the far right, the suspect's car hits this innocent person('s car). We stop."

Obviously, Police commissioner Bill Dwyer - very upset.

FOX 2: "Your police car never touched Allen or (Hall's cars)."

"That's correct," Dwyer said. "It is a moderate pursuit. A short pursuit. The suspect's vehicle hit the innocent vehicle. Not us. We don't allow ramming. It is against our policy. So when that report went out last night it was very disappointing that they (said we) rammed the car. We did not ram the car as you can see on the video.

"We may be going after (Hall) now."

UPDATE 9 p.m. Thursday: Elijah Hall has apologized for accusing the Warren police of causing his crash by ramming a suspect into him.

"I just saw the dash cam footage and can clearly see the police did not hit the vehicle as me and my son thought happened. With it happening so fast I thought I saw correctly. I clearly didn't. Now I owe the Warren police department an apology. Thought my perception was cloudy, I'm still man enough to say I was wrong in that."