A Memphis police officer involved in an on-duty crash that killed two people last year has been fired following a state investigation, police said Tuesday.
Alex Beard, 23, was fired Monday following a probe by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, which presented its findings to the Shelby County District Attorney's Office. District Attorney spokesman Vince Higgins said his office is still investigating the case, and no decision has been made on whether to file charges against Beard.
Beard underwent an administrative hearing with the Memphis Police Department Monday before his termination. He was charged with failing to adhere to regulations regarding responding to calls, personal conduct and motor-vehicle damage. He has the right to appeal his firing to the Civil Service Commission, a board that has the authority to reinstate him.
The fatal crash happened about 3 p.m. Aug. 26 at Crump and Walnut near Downtown. Beard, heading east on Crump, was responding to a request for help from another officer dealing with what police term a "mental consumer." Police said Beard ran a red light without his lights or sirens on, a violation of department policy.
His car collided with a 1996 Mercury Mystique, which was heading west on Crump and turning south on Walnut. The collision killed Mackala Ross, 13, and Delores Epps, 54. Michael Ross and Ray Beebe, the other two passengers in the Mtstique, were injured, Ross critically. Beard suffered noncritical injuries.
Witnesses said Beard was speeding while traveling without lights or sirens, a clear violation of MPD policy.
The departmental policy on emergency responses says that state law allows officers to speed or ignore red lights "so long as the driver does not endanger life or property. This law applies only when an emergency vehicle is making use of audible (siren) and visual (blue light) signals." Then, in all capital letters, the policy adds that the provisions of the law "neither relieve the driver of an authorized emergency vehicle from the duty to drive with due regard for the safety of all persons nor protect the driver from the consequences of his reckless disregard for the safety of others."
When it was revealed that Beard did not have his lights or sirens on, many Memphians reacted angrily in the days after the crash. Numerous people contacted the newspaper or posted online with their own stories of police officers disobeying traffic rules.
Beard, who began working for MPD in October 2010, was assigned to Union Station. Before the August crash, he had no infractions on his personnel record. So far, no lawsuits against the city or Memphis police appear to have been filed in the accident.
Epps and Ross were visiting from Senatobia, Miss., for a relative's 50th birthday.
Beard did not respond to a voicemail or text message sent to his cell phone.
Copyright 2013 - The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
