A pregnant Arkansas woman’s car was turned over by a pursuing state trooper and accused the motorist of not stopping fast enough. The video of the brief chase is being used in the lawsuit that the woman, Nicole Harper, makes against the police.
Our sister network NBC News obtained the video that was provided by the attorneys representing Harper. Dashcam video on the patrol shows Harper slowing down, activating her flashers and changing lanes to the right, so she can eventually stop, her attorney Andrew Norwood said.
According to the lawsuit filed in Pulaski County court last month, it was stated that Harper was going 84 miles per hour in a 70-mile-per-hour zone when police officer Rodney Dunn turned on his siren and turned on lights for her to stop.
The chase lasted 2 minutes and 7 seconds until Dunn decided to hit the back of Harper’s car in a “pursuit intervention technique,” more commonly known as a “pit maneuver,” according to the lawsuit.
The blow caused Harper’s car to veer suddenly to the left and out of sight of the dash cam. The patrol car immediately made a 180-degree turn and came around to where Harper’s truck was overturned, images show.
Moments later, the police officer approached Harper’s overturned car and as he helped her out he asked, “Why didn’t you stop?” She replied “because I didn’t feel it was safe.” And Dunn said, “Well, this is where you ended up.”
Harper said the shoulder on the southbound stretch of US-167 in Jacksonville was narrow and that she wanted to stop at an exit.
The Arkansas driver’s license manual urges motorists to go “to the nearest / safest place outside the traffic lane” when police are calling for them to stop.
That night in the emergency room, a doctor told Harper, who was two months pregnant, that a fetal heartbeat could not be detected and that she believed the baby had died, Norwood said.
But an exam by her obstetrician the next morning detected her heartbeat, and Harper’s daughter was born in February.
In addition to speeding, Harper is being charged with failing to yield to an emergency vehicle, which carries a maximum fine of $ 400.
A spokeswoman for the Arkansas State Police declined to comment on the lawsuit and the July 9, 2020 incident.