Sign up for our newsletter.

Quality journalism. Progressive values. Direct to your inbox.

Follow us:

A pregnant woman's car was flipped over when an Arkansas police officer completed a PIT maneuver on a highway

A police officer in Arkansas flipped a pregnant woman's car on a highway in July 2020, believing she was evading him after speeding. The woman was actually attempting to pull over safely, her lawyer says, in accordance with the state's driving laws. (Image: screenshot)

'Unequivocally Deadly': Cop Flips Over Car of Pregnant Woman Who Didn't Pull Over Fast Enough

"Not only is what she did not wrong," said one observer, "it's what you're supposed to do: turning on hazards to indicate you're complying and pulling over at the next safe place."

Julia Conley

Police dash cam footage that began to go viral Wednesday has sparked outrage as it showed a state trooper in Arkansas forcing the SUV of a pregnant woman driver—who claims she was was trying to find a safer place to pull over—to crash and roll over during an attempted highway traffic stop in July of last year.

"A person who was obeying the law could have been killed along with her unborn child, all thanks to a veteran police officer not knowing the law he is meant to enforce, or being unable to resist performing a dangerous and unnecessary maneuver." —Erin Marquis, Jalopnik

Nicole Harper, who was two months pregnant when Senior Cpl. Rodney Dunn attempted to pull her over, filed a lawsuit against the Arkansas State Police last month, accusing the agency of negligence and excessive force. 
 
The dash cam footage shows Harper reducing her speed and turning her emergency flashers on after Dunn began trying to pull her over for allegedly driving at 84 miles per hour in a 70 mile-per-hour zone. Harper said the shoulder on the stretch of highway she was driving on was too narrow to safely pull to the side. 
 
According to the Arkansas Driver's Manual, a driver who's being pulled over is supposed to "activate your turn signal or emergency flashers to indicate to the officer that you are seeking a safe place to stop," but Dunn waited just two minutes and seven seconds after turning on his siren before treating Harper as a fleeing suspect, pulling up to the side of her car and nudging the left side. 
 
The Precision Immobilization Technique (PIT) maneuver caused Harper's vehicle to swerve into a concrete median and flip over. 
 
"What was done on Miss Harper was unequivocally deadly," Harper's attorney, Andrew Norwood, told Newsweek.
 
According to NBC News, Harper feared she had suffered a pregnancy loss after the crash, but her doctor later confirmed that her unborn child was safe and her daughter was born earlier this year. 
 
Dunn, who is still on the force and has worked as a highway patrol officer since 1994, charged Harper with fleeing after confronting her at the scene of the crash. 
 
"Why didn't you stop?" Dunn is heard asking Harper in the dash cam video.

"Because I didn't feel it was safe," she responds, to which Dunn replies, "Well, this is where you ended up."

According to Jalopnik, "most precincts leave whether to chase a suspect or driver or not up to their officers' discretion" and data shows police agencies that give officers more freedom to decide when to give chase have higher rates of chases. 
 
"In this instance," wrote Erin Marquis at Jalopnik, "a person who was obeying the law could have been killed along with her unborn child, all thanks to a veteran police officer not knowing the law he is meant to enforce, or being unable to resist performing a dangerous and unnecessary maneuver."
 
Harper and her attorney told Newsweek they hope their lawsuit will result in changes to the Arkansas State Police's policies regarding PIT maneuvers.
 
On social media, critics expressed outrage at the viral dash cam video.
 
"The officer's action's are attempted murder," tweeted author Geraldine DeRuiter. 
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Comments

This is the world we live in. This is the world we cover.

Because of people like you, another world is possible. There are many battles to be won, but we will battle them together—all of us. Common Dreams is not your normal news site. We don't survive on clicks. We don't want advertising dollars. We want the world to be a better place. But we can't do it alone. It doesn't work that way. We need you. If you can help today—because every gift of every size matters—please do. Without Your Support We Simply Don't Exist.

Please select a donation method:

Credit Card
PayPal Logo Donate via Paypal

Related

Anti choice protester

'Anti-Democratic Zealots': US Abortion Opponents Seen as Growing, Wider Threat

Julia Conley ·

Shontel Brown

Nina Turner Primary Opponent Shontel Brown Facing Felony Ethics Probe

Brett Wilkins ·

Amazon Protest

Poll: Overwhelming Majority of US Voters Want Robust Regulation of Tech Companies

Brett Wilkins ·

No War

We Can Only Win Without War

Robert C. Koehler ·

Latest News

See all
Sen. Bernie Sanders and Nina Turner

With Election Days Away, Bernie Sanders Headlines Get-Out-the-Vote Rally for Nina Turner

In his keynote speech, Sanders said corporate interests are pulling out all the stops to defeat Turner because "they know that when she is elected, she is going to stand up and take them on in the fight for justice."

Jake Johnson ·

Reps. Cori Bush, Ilhan Omar, and Ayanna Pressley sleep outside the Capitol

Bush, Pressley, and Omar Sleep Outside Capitol to Demand Extension of Eviction Moratorium

Rep. Cori Bush, who was formerly unhoused, slammed her Democratic colleagues who "chose to go on vacation early today rather than staying to vote to keep people in their homes."

Jake Johnson ·

Cuba embargo

As Progressives Call for End to Blockade, Biden Announces More Sanctions Against Cuba

The move comes after Democratic leadership in the House blocked an amendment to roll back limits on how much money people in the United States can send to family on the island nation.

Jessica Corbett ·

Eviction Moratorium

Progressives Issue Dire Warning as House Bill to Extend Eviction Moratorium Dies

"If Congress does not act now, the fallout of the eviction crisis will undoubtedly set us backwards as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravish our communities, needlessly contributing to more death and destruction."

Brett Wilkins ·

Steven Donziger, a human rights lawyer working of behalf of Ecuadorians harmed by over three decades of Texaco-Chevron's oil drilling and dumping of toxic wastewater in the Amazon rainforest, speaks at a press conference on March 19, 2014 in Quito. (Photo: Rodrigo Buendia/AFP via Getty Images)

Citing Donziger Case, Dems Raise Alarm About Use of Private Prosecutors in Federal Court

Private prosecutions of criminal contempt charges, said a pair of senators, "are highly unusual and can raise concerning questions of fundamental fairness in our criminal justice system."

Jessica Corbett ·

Most Popular

 
  1. Planet's Vital Signs Are Reaching Dangerous 'Tipping Points' Amid Climate Crisis, Scientists Warn
  2. For First Time on Record, US Renewables Generated More Electricity Than Either Coal or Nuclear in 2020
  3. As Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal Reached, Sinema Comes Out Against $3.5 Trillion Package
  4. 'Just Say That the Election Was Corrupt,' Trump Told DOJ in December
  5. Progressives Threaten to Tank Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal If Their Demands Aren't Met
  6. Science Museum Just Killed Its 'Own Reputation,' Says Greta Thunberg After Docs Reveal Gag Clause With Shell
  7. Bush, Pressley, and Omar Sleep Outside Capitol to Demand Extension of Eviction Moratorium
  8. Pelosi Under Fire for Parroting 'Right-Wing Lies' Against Student Loan Debt Cancellation
  9. Moving From Neglect to Dignity in the S.S.I. Program
  10. 'Turn This Destruction Around': 5 Months Left in 2021 But Humanity's Used Up Earth's Ecological Budget