Two police officers falsely blamed a civilian driver for a high-speed crash caused by one of the officers.
Officer Jeremy Harris was traveling 77 mph on College Street on July 16 when he lost control at a railroad crossing and slammed into a vehicle carrying five occupants stopped at the 22nd Street South intersection. Then Harris, with corroboration from a colleague who witnessed the crash, falsely told authorities the civilian pulled out in front of him.
That’s the conclusion of a Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office investigation obtained by The Dispatch, which found the officers’ account of the wreck contradicted by both body camera footage and physical evidence.
“The officers’ statements were inconsistent with the evidence we uncovered,” Sheriff Eddie Hawkins told The Dispatch.
The civilian driver, 32-year-old Devion Bankhead, was ticketed for no driver’s license and no insurance at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle before he was airlifted to the University of Mississippi Medical Center for a brain bleed.
On top of that, authorities ran a criminal background check on Bankhead while he lay injured at the wreck scene, then ordered a drug test for the victim at the hospital while letting Harris take one at the city crime lab a day later.
Bankhead was released from UMMC on Sunday. He has hired Jackson attorney Benjamin Philley and city officials are now bracing for a lawsuit.
“(His grandmother) said he’s having head trauma, but he’s up and about,” Philley told The Dispatch on Thursday. “I know that he still plans to have future treatment, but I don’t know as far as long term effects. From history, it normally does have (a) long term effect … when you have head trauma like that.”
As for the officers involved, Chief Joseph Daughtry said that is a personnel matter.
“No criminal action is going to take place,” Daughtry said. “But now we’re looking at a personnel issue plus possible litigation. … We do know we have personnel to deal with. I’m just thankful the sheriff was able to do an investigation, and we can get the facts out there. From Day 1, we never tried to hide it.”
What happened?
Harris and Lt. Scote Renfro were responding to a request for emergency backup at the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center to help assist with a suspect in custody who bit another CPD officer.
Harris was driving the lead vehicle that crashed into Bankhead and his four passengers, including two adults, a 15-year-old and a 4-year-old, at the intersection of 22nd Street North. The 4-year-old also sustained minor injuries.
The sheriff’s office report said Harris was driving east down College Street when he drove over a railroad crossing and lost control before the collision.
Harris wasn’t wearing a seat belt, the report said, and his body camera footage showed he was driving at high speeds with only his left hand on the wheel. After he hit the railroad tracks, the footage shows Harris thrown into the passenger’s seat of his police unit as it crashed into something and flipped.
Harris was taken to Baptist hospital with minor injuries. While in the emergency room, he provided a statement to LCSO, in which he said Bankhead pulled into the intersection, causing the collision.
“They basically just shot out in front of me,” Harris said in the bodycam footage LCSO provided. “I guess they thought they were going to beat me, and I … got over that hump. And after that, I don’t know.”
Renfro, who was following Harris in his patrol vehicle and saw the crash, corroborated Harris’ statement, saying he was following the officer when Bankhead’s vehicle passed the stop sign and pulled into the road, causing the accident.
Using body camera footage, witness statements and event data recorder – or “black box” – evidence obtained from both Harris’ and Bankhead’s vehicles, LCSO Investigator Drew McCain determined Bankhead was stopped at the intersection at the time of the crash.
The top speed for the CPD patrol car was 77.4 mph three seconds before the crash. Bankhead’s vehicle was stationary for the five seconds immediately before the crash.
“It appears that Officer Harris was driving his patrol vehicle too fast when he drove over the railroad tracks,” McCain wrote. “… This caused Officer Harris to lose control of his vehicle, which resulted in his patrol vehicle leaving its lane of travel and colliding with (Bankhead’s) Dodge Avenger.”
Body camera footage also shows Daughtry at the scene of the accident parroting Harris’ claims about how the accident occurred to first responders.
On Thursday, Daughtry did not argue with LCSO’s conclusion.
“I can’t answer why (Harris) said what he said,” Daughtry told The Dispatch.
Canceled drug test
CPD hired Harris in August 2023. He was suspended for 30 days in July 2024 after Mississippi Highway Patrol charged him with speeding and driving under the influence on Highway 69.
After the July 16 crash, a drug test was ordered for both Bankhead and Harris at Baptist. Bankhead’s came back clear, but the LCSO report says CPD “canceled” the drug test for Harris.
Instead, Harris took a drug test at the city crime lab “within 24 hours” of the crash, Daughtry said, which came back clean. Those drug test results are not included in LCSO’s report.
In vehicle accidents where a city employee driver could have contributed, drug tests are required within one hour, according to a city policy provided to LCSO and included in the final crash report.
Renfro has his own checkered past with law enforcement, being fired from Moss Point in 2011 for insubordination after his supervisors said he appeared intoxicated while using his police radio off duty and then refused to follow orders during an internal investigation. The city’s Civil Service Commission, Jackson County Circuit Court and the Mississippi Court of Appeals all upheld his termination on separate appeals.
CPD hired Renfro in April, according to Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell.
Council members respond
The Dispatch reached five council members Thursday for comment.
Ward 4 Councilwoman Lavonne Harris and Ward 5 Councilman Gary Jefferson declined to comment on the record.
Roderick Smith of Ward 2, Rusty Greene of Ward 3 and Jason Spears of Ward 6 all said they had not received the final report and would need to review it to see what action is necessary.
“We have to ensure that our officers have the public’s safety as their No. 1 priority,” Greene said.
Smith said he is “very concerned” about the situation.
“With this administration, we’re setting the standard high for our police department and all our departments in the city,” he said. “We’re definitely going to make everything fair across the board and hold people accountable.”
The Dispatch could not reach Mayor Stephen Jones or Vice Mayor Ethel Stewart, who represents Ward 1, by press time.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 41 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
