After years of litigation, the City of Hampton paid $1 million to the family of Grashaunda Banks to settle a wrongful death claim brought as a result of a high speed police chase that resulted in a deadly collision. The crash occurred on Hwy. 19\/41 near midnight on July 23, 2000, near the Atlanta Motor Speedway.
\nThe Plaintiff, Olivia Banks, alleged that her 22-year old daughter was killed as a result of a reckless disregard of police policy and procedure when City of Hampton Police Officer Jeremy Pirtle engaged in a high speed pursuit of Dwight Allen Dixon (at speeds in excess of 100 mph), allegedly because Dixon had committed a traffic violation. Dixon crashed head-on into the vehicle being driven by Grashaunda Banks as Dixon was fleeing from the officer. While there was some evidence that Dixon might also have been impaired, this evidence was disputed because the blood sample taken from Mr. Dixon (who was also killed in the collision) was lost for eight days and allegedly became contaminated before it was tested.
\nThe Banks family alleged that it was a violation of established procedure for a police officer to dangerously pursue at high speeds a suspect who allegedly was guilty of nothing more than a minor traffic offense. The Plaintiff alleged that the risk of danger to the motoring public, including her innocent daughter, was too great to justify the deadly high speed pursuit of Dixon for a mere traffic violation.
\nWhile police chase cases have always been the subject of considerable public debate, apparently the City felt that it should settle the case rather than take its chances with a Clayton County jury. The sum of $1 million paid to settle the Banks wrongful death suit is believed to be one of the higher settlements in the state in a case involving a high speed police pursuit.
\nThe settlement ended over five (5) years of litigation between the parties. Suit was initially filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County because Dixon\u2019s Death Certificate incorrectly stated that he lived in Fulton County. Two years later, it became known that Dixon had moved to Clayton County, approximately thirty (30) days before his death. The Banks family was forced to re-institute the lawsuit in Clayton County, only to have the City of Hampton transfer the case to Henry County.<\/p>\n