1 dead after police chase alleged shoplifter into Jackson

Lonnie Blue, 34, a father, worked at the Nissan plant.

Blue, originally of Brookhaven, was killed late Monday during the course of a police pursuit. But Blue wasn't the one running from police. He was an innocent bystander.

Donnell Williams Johnson, 28, Ashley Travis, 23, and James Williams, 35, are in custody after allegedly shoplifting computer equipment at the Wal-Mart on  U.S. 80 and leading police on a high-speed chase from Clinton to Capitol Street and Tennessee Avenue. Police say Johnson was driving the vehicle, which had switched tags, when the accident occurred at 11:51 p.m.

RELATED: Chief Vance insists Clinton did not contact JPD until chase turned deadly

According to Hinds County Coroner Sharon Grisham-Stewart, Blue died at the scene from multiple blunt force injuries.

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Mike Gill, Clinton's interim police chief, said in a press conference Tuesday morning that his officers attempted to stop the suspected shoplifters' vehicle as they left the Walmart parking lot. The vehicle did not yield to blue lights, and officers pursued the suspects into Jackson, Gill said.

Referencing the chase, Gill said, "Our officers followed existing state law while doing that."

Clinton police notified Jackson police of the ongoing chase, and JPD responded and assisted, Gill said.

Jackson Police Chief Lee Vance said to his knowledge, JPD was not notified until after the crash occurred and his officers were not involved in the pursuit.

"That is absolutely untrue from my knowledge. I’ve already talked with dispatch supervisors and the sergeant that was on duty, the only notification we got was after the crash," Vance said. "We by no means participated in this pursuit. I’ve been vocal about my opposition of chasing suspects in the the city of Jackson on misdemeanor or property crimes."

In a pursuit in January that originated in Hazlehurst and ended with Byram and Hazlehurst calling off the chase at Jackson city limits, Byram Chief Luke Thompson had said JPD was called and Vance had said to his knowledge they were not. At the time, Vance said, "Calling JPD is not mandatory." Thompson said he did not believe any Jackson officers had engaged in that situation.

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But according to Fisher, Jackson police were "blocking streets in assistance with us."

Dash-cam video sent to The Clarion-Ledger from the city of Clinton shows a responding officer asking dispatchers if JPD has been notified, and the dispatcher replies that they have. Less than a minute later, he passes a JPD car on the left with its lights on. After the dispatcher calls to officers that the tag comes back switched, a JPD car passes the Clinton police car.

The video shows the suspect driving up on to a sidewalk and then back out on to the road at one point, and the police officer can be heard saying, "What the hell is he doing?"

Officials said it appeared that Johnson swerved into the oncoming lane and hit Blue head-on with no other provocation. Gill said he did not know the speed of the chase but "our officers were backing off. They were a few hundred feet away from the vehicle that caused the wreck. They were talking, they were discussing, breaking off the pursuit at that time."

The video does appear to show that officers were substantially behind the suspect when the wreck occurs.

"The car veered into the eastbound lane and hit the other car head on for no apparent reason. It just veered over and hit. The radio traffic indicates that they were backing off and had already made the decision to start backing off because of the decision," Fisher said.

Of the pursuit, Gill said, "That's our job. We're going to do our job. If you run, we're going to chase you."

RELATED CONTENT: Timeline of police pursuits in Jackson

Vance, whose department has a strict pursuit policy, was angry. He said it was "quite frankly a matter of time before this happened."

"This morning one individual is dead right now who had absolutely nothing to do with the theft of whatever was taken from the Walmart," Vance said. "From my understanding all this gentleman was doing was trying to get home from work. And he is now dead because he simply was not able to get out of the way of one of these pursuits that we've been talking about for months."

The subject of inter-jurisdictional police chases has been a volatile one for months, and the Jackson City Council  passed a resolution in January against outside agencies pursuing suspects into Jackson. The controversy has raged for several years but recently came to a head when Ward 3 Councilman Kenneth Stokes said residents of the capital city should throw rocks, bricks and bottles at police who pursue suspects into Jackson from adjoining jurisdictions. On Tuesday, he said the city of Clinton should pay the Blue family $100 million in damages, and he once more accused police of racism. Stokes maintains that if Jackson had a white mayor and a white police chief, that surrounding jurisdictions would not pursue fleeing suspects into the city.

Stokes also accuses the officers involved in the chase of "murdering" Blue. Gill said charges could be brought against Johnson in Blue's death if JPD or Hinds County decided to press them.

Clinton Mayor Phil Fisher said the accident was not the fault of the Clinton police.

"This is a terrible, terrible thing that happened but this is irresponsible driving on the part of the criminal and not the part of the Clinton Police Department," Fisher said.

Johnson has six outstanding tickets — four from the Ridgeland Police Department and two from the Mississippi Highway Patrol. He did not have a driver’s license.

In 2013 Johnson was convicted of four counts of auto burglary and sentenced to seven years with three years suspended and three years' probation, according to the Clinton Police Department.

Blue's brother, Alvin Blue, spoke to the Jackson City Council Tuesday. He said that prior to his brother's death, the conversation had all been hypothetical.

"It's no longer rhetoric, it's evident that an innocent life was taken because of high-speed pursuits. It would do a great justice for his son, our mother, and the whole entire family for the council members to pursue whatever we need to do to bring this subject to light," Alvin Blue said, adding that his mother is heartbroken. "She can't even speak at the moment."

RELATED STORY: Stokes' comments anger officials, law enforcement

Stokes said he knows the Blue family is going through a hard time.

"It’s important that we keep sending the message that we’re not chasing into other cities, and we don’t want them to come into our city and harm and hurt our people," he said. "We’d be glad to pay for whatever could be stolen because you can replace that, but you can’t replace a life."

Mayor Tony Yarber also addressed Alvin Blue.

"Prior to this the conversation hadn’t reached the level it should have. We attempted to get people on the same page in the tri-county area about a uniform pursuit policy, and the chief and I have talked about it, we’ve reached across the lines to talk about it as well," he said. "But you’re right, it’s time to move this from rhetoric to a conversation full of action. Unfortunately this may be what moves others to the table to really start having this conversation. What stopped the city of Jackson from doing these kinds of actions in the past were family members."

Fisher joined the other officials in extending his condolences to the family, and cautioned against allowing the situation to be strictly political.

"The tragedy here is not the chase," he said."The tragedy is that the criminals crossed the line on the street and hit another person. That’s the tragedy, and it’s the tragedy for the family."

Contact Therese Apel at tapel@gannett.com. Follow @TRex21 on Twitter.