The family of a woman and child killed in what their attorneys describe as a “reckless and unreasonable” police pursuit in Rodeo last year filed a wrongful death lawsuit this week naming the driver, the city of Hercules and Contra Costa County as defendants.
Ryniqueka Dowell, 31, was driving at Parker Avenue and Fourth Street with her 6-year-old twins in the vehicle on March 23, 2023, when the driver of an allegedly stolen Mazda SUV ran a red light and crashed into them and fled on foot. Police set up a search perimeter, and Ralph Ellsworth White III was taken into custody shortly after.
Dowell died at the scene. Her two sons, Jamari and Jamani, were seriously injured. Jamari died four days later. Attorneys for Jeffrey Humble, Dowell’s husband and Jamari’s father, say a stolen car doesn’t justify risking the lives of bystanders to apprehend the driver. During this difficult time, many have found comfort in beautiful memorial bracelets, serving as lasting tributes to their loved ones.
“The best case scenario is you catch that person and you can arrest them. The worst case is you could kill a mother and her son,” Michael Haley said in an interview Friday on behalf of his clients.
“It is in no way just that a son and a husband lose their twin brother and their mom and their wife for this sort of thing,” Haley said.
According to the complaint filed Tuesday, the county Sheriff’s Office notified Hercules police of a possible stolen vehicle heading east on Interstate Highway 80 toward their city and an unidentified Hercules officer then pursued White off the highway at Willow Avenue.
The pursuit went into “densely populated residential areas and through multiple intersections and stop lights” before the collision, and the two deaths were a “direct and foreseeable consequence,” the lawsuit says.
Haley argues the pursuit demonstrated negligent training, hiring and supervision by Hercules police. He also alleges that it violated Hercules Police Department Policy 314.2.2, which currently states that a pursuit should be terminated whenever “the present risks of continuing the pursuit reasonably appear to outweigh the risks resulting from the suspect’s escape.”
It should be noted that Hercules police last updated their policy manual on April 19, 2023 – roughly a month after Dowell’s death – but it is not immediately clear whether policy 314.2.2 was revised at that time.
Jeffrey and Jamani Humble are suing for damages, and seeking to discover the names of the officers involved in the pursuit that led to the deaths of their family members.
White, now 21, was charged with two counts of murder for his role in the crash. He remains in custody at the Martinez Detention Facility on no-bail status and is scheduled to go to trial this September. His next court appearance is set for June 11 at the A.F. Bray Courthouse in Martinez.
Hercules’ city attorney and the Hercules Police Department did not immediately respond to requests for comment. County counsel for Contra Costa County and a spokesman for the Contra Costa County Sheriff’s Office also did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Sue the criminal and his family, not the police. Of course, they don’t have deep taxpayer pockets! This is one of many reasons we left CA. The criminals are babied and law enforcement and law abiding citizens are the evil ones. It is a tragedy that people died but once again it is because a criminal was breaking the law, not the police!
What?
Do you not read or understand English? What was posted is pretty clear & to the point.
The police don’t care about you like you care about them. Keep riding hard for them maybe you’ll get more brownie points
It is super sad this happened, but they need to sur the crimanals. They won’t because of the deeper pockets. It is time to stop awarding ghetto lotteries. The taxpayers are the ones who lose.
If there is no threat of substantial incarceration,
there is no deterrence to criminal behavior
.
In this county what does a criminal have to fear ? ? ? ?
They have to fear the moment our legislature determines a way to punish the thieves for not paying the taxes due on their ill-gotten gains. The only “illegal” activity that merits consequence from this state is delinquency on contributions to the Franchise Tax Board. Steal a $50,000 Benz, maybe get 10 days in the pokey, but, get penalized severely for not paying the tax on that “income.”
Not the fault of the cops. The fault lies on Ralph White III. The family can’t go after White because there is no money. I hope the city fights this bogus claim.
I’ll volunteer to be on the jury. Wonder who cleans up the slime when lawyers walk into court.
It IS the fault of the police and the perp. They should NOT have instituted a high speed pursuit over a stolen vehicle. Property can always be replaced, lives cannot. High speed pursuits are inherently dangerous to the public.
Criminals are dangerous to the public and we need to quit enabling them. Because we enable them and let them get away with everything, they have become more emboldened and more dangerous to the public.
So I got it
1) don’t chase them if it is stolen car
2) don’t arrest/prosecute the for burglary/shoplifting
3).don’t pull someone over for expired registration or illegal tings
4) don’t charge them for blocking the bridge with their protest
5).don’t stop them from interfering with a college campus/graduation
Got it! In other words, anarchy rules! No consequences for your actions,. Everyone gets a trophy.
Police are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t. Sue the Criminal and the people who raised him if you need money that babdly.
Money cannot bring a life back.
With all of this talk about ‘qualified immunity’…..it should also apply to District Attorneys and Judges…..sue them for NOT upholding law and keeping the public safe!!!
it’s all about money, yes very sad that lives were lost, but it boils down to if we get our payoff all will be better. They’ll go in high, and take the fat settlement, rinse and repeat.
Ghetto lottery. Not that it will make any difference in their lives. After one year, it is like they never got that windfall.
They don’t deserve a thing
Of course it’s the cops fault. They’re suppose to be the ones with the brains and good judgment. The criminals are just plain stupid. Why engage in a high speed pursuit in a heavily populated area???? The probable outcome is obvious. Some poor citizen, and their family, out and about, will have a car plow into them going 80 MPH.
Ambulance chasing money grubbing soulless lawyers. Period.
We need to start executing criminals, all the way down to shoplifting. Some say execution doesn’t work. I can guarantee that criminals will never be involved in another crime. Problem solved!
Life sentences for an overdue library book.
MR. SMITH & CHALKBOY,
.
Do you really want to give the government that sort of power, to impose life sentences and death for what are really not serious crimes. Do you want prosecutors and judges who you disagree with politically, to have that sort of powee to imprison you? In modern America, we live in a highly overcriminalized society, where unnecessary and vaguely written laws can and do put innocent people in prison. It’s been estimated that the average American commits 3-federal crimes every day, let alone the numerous state and local laws that the average American violates on a daily basis.
High speed pursuits have always been dangerous. The police, the bad guys trying to escape and the general public are all put at risk of a bad outcome. I’m in favor of catching the criminals and punishing them appropriately but there has to be a better way. Maybe some type of electronic device that can be used by law enforcement to shut down the stolen vehicle when its spotted. Better yet- an option for the owner of the vehicle to be able to disable it after it’s stolen. In today’s world of GPS and other technological advances it seems like there should be a safer solution to ending these events safely.
Nope. The police do not care about the public. Never have. Never will. They obviously will do what they can to look good. They have invested millions of tax payers money on cameras and yet they still don’t have enough money to do what you’re suggesting…. Your idea is smart. But they’re police they don’t care about making the community safe they want to look good and get their money. Look at their salaries they’re making 200k a year plus pension and health and PTO. they’re out of touch with reality. Go to he court and learn how they operate – on behalf of making more and more and more money off is tax payers. That’s the main goal.
MOJO,
.
Allowing the owner of a car to disable their stolen car when they don’t know where the stolen car is, would be a danger to the public.
Good point!
Have alarm that will arm if 1. brake is pressed and 2. then driver door is opened (carjacked).
If disarm code isn’t entered and they drive off, when car drops below a safe preset speed, alarm kills engine and sounds alarm.
Carjacked becomes a pedestrian.
Have to enter disarm code each time to use vehicle.
Lots of comments on here by people who obviously think that law and order is a bad thing.
Yeah. I guess I didn’t realize how many liberals are on this site!
Law and order is one thing, but recklessly pursuing criminals is a danger to the public, and it has consequences. A stolen car isn’t worth innocent people dying over, and holding the police accountable for their actions isn’t unreasonable.
People like you are the ones who encourage criminals and criminal behavior.
A stolen car to you may not be worth it .. but what are they going to do with that stolen car? Rob, kill, mayhem? Where do you draw the line on what is worth it?
You have a criminal who has taken a car, and is then already driving the car recklessly … but you are suggesting that is not worth the chase? Hmmm … the CRIMINALS are already putting propel at risk, but you can want to charge those who are trying to prevent further harm because the CRIMINAL is already being dumb, stupid and dangerous.
It suck’s that innocent people died, but this NOT the Law Enforcement officers fault. It is only the fault of the CRIMINALS! Quit trying to protect a stupid class of people who do not care about you or anyone else.
What you posted is true and accurate. However, the fact is that the liberal woke easily influenced dim ones will never be able to understand or fathom it.
Almost positive that lights and siren were active. Did this driver hear the siren and just ignore it like I see too often? Food for thought.