A police officer who caused a vehicle crash that seriously injured a civilian has resigned.
Jeremy Harris’ last day on the force was Monday, Human Resources Director Pat Mitchell confirmed. The city council accepted his resignation during its Tuesday meeting, according to three sources directly familiar with the issue who confirmed it off the record to The Dispatch due to the matter being discussed in an executive session.
A Lowndes County Sheriff’s Office investigation that followed the crash listed Harris’ reckless driving as the cause, though Harris had given a statement falsely blaming the civilian driver.
Harris was responding July 16 to a call for aid from another officer when he lost control of his cruiser on College Street and struck a vehicle containing five civilians at the intersection of 22nd Street South. The civilian driver, Devion Bankhead, was later airlifted to University of Mississippi Medical Center for a brain bleed. He has since been released and has retained an attorney.
The day of the accident, Harris told a Lowndes County sheriff’s deputy that Bankhead pulled out in front of him at the intersection, causing the wreck. Another officer who witnessed the crash, Lt. Scote Renfroe, corroborated Harris’ statement.
But the final sheriff’s office investigative report concluded Harris was driving 77 mph when he lost control and Bankhead’s vehicle was stopped at the intersection at the time of the crash. Body camera footage shows Harris was not wearing a seat belt at the time and had one hand on the wheel before he lost control.
Further, while Bankhead’s urine was tested for drugs and alcohol at Baptist Memorial Hospital-Golden Triangle before he was airlifted, the investigation showed Columbus Police Department canceled the same test for Harris. Instead, city officials said Harris took a drug test the next day at the city crime lab, despite city policy requiring the test be administered within an hour of the wreck.
Results of Harris’ drug test were not provided to the sheriff’s office for its investigation.
Mayor Stephen Jones issued a press release Aug. 4 that, among other things, blamed “confusion” at Baptist for Harris not receiving a timely drug test and claimed the hospital had apologized to the city and implemented training to avoid similar issues in the future.
Baptist released a statement Aug. 6 refuting the mayor’s claims, asserting that it followed its protocols and attempted to administer the drug test.
Harris was hired in August 2023. The council suspended him for 30 days in July 2024 after Mississippi Highway Patrol arrested him for driving under the influence and speeding on Highway 69. He was off duty at the time.
Police Chief Joseph Daughtry declined to comment to The Dispatch after Tuesday’s meeting due to the issue being a personnel matter.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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