MPD officers involved in 3 crashes in less than a week

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Memphis Police are investigating three separate officer-involved crashes that injured at least 10 people in less than a week.

It’s a tragic chain of events that is contributing to an already strained MPD fleet.

The first crash occurred last Friday and tragically took the lives of 34-year-old MPD officer Demetrice Johnson and 22-year-old Rantavious Johnson.

“Preliminary information revealed the driver of the grey Nissan was also suffering from a gunshot wound,” Interim Police Chief CJ Davis said after the crash.

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Officer Johnson’s family and co-workers honored him over the weekend as Chief Davis connected with his extended family.

“Just know that we are here for you,” Davis said at Johnson’s vigil.

Less than 48 hours later, six people, including an MPD officer and two juveniles, were injured in a multi-vehicle crash on Lamar and Tuggle in Southeast Memphis.

Fast forward to Tuesday morning, when commuters had to sit in traffic on Danny Thomas and Alabama Avenue around 8 a.m. as investigators worked on another crash involving an MPD officer.

As all of these crashes remain under investigation, MPD has too few cars for officers to fight crime.

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In July, Sgt. Matt Cunningham, the President of the Memphis Police Association, confirmed that 50% of their fleet is not in rotation, with about 170 squad cars awaiting maintenance.

“We get in high-speed situations (and) we drive the cars hard to respond to a call or a pursuit,” Cunningham said.

WREG reached out to MPD to find out how many officer-involved crashes have happened this year and were told 251 have occurred.

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