Six days after she underwent a cesarean section to deliver her child, northern Virginia police officers mistook a Black mother for a suspect involved in a high-speed chase and hit the car she was riding in head-on. Jamee Kimble said in the caption of video of the encounter she posted to Instagram on Saturday that two of her children were in the car with her when officers with the Fairfax County Police Department hit the vehicle.
”They had me hold both of my hands out the car window while they pointed a gun at me screaming that I could become a threat if I moved…IN FRONT OF MY KIDS!!!!!” she said. “After searching me in my car, AND FINDING NOTHING.. they threw me my kids in the back of a police car and I wasn’t even being detained at this point (they had handcuffs on mee)!!!”
The police department said in a news release confirming the crash that the car Kimble was riding in was a “wanted vehicle involved in an incident in Arlington County.”
Campaign Action
The department has started an administrative review of the incident.
Officers said in the news release that they were responding to a 3:30 PM alert from the county’s license plate reader that "a felony vehicle with occupants listed as armed and dangerous" was traveling in the Fairfax jurisdiction.
"Patrol officers soon found the vehicle, conducted a felony vehicle stop and detained the occupants,” police said in the release. “Two adult women and two children were discovered in the vehicle.”
In the process of detaining those in the vehicle, an officer’s cruiser “struck the front bumper of the wanted vehicle while traveling at an estimated speed under 10 mph,” police said, adding that “there was minimal damage to the car."
“Officers identified the occupants, determined they were not owners of the vehicle, were not involved in the incident in Arlington County, and were released,” police said. “The driver requested to be taken to the hospital by Fire & Rescue personnel at that time.”
Kimble said in her social media post that the three days she spent in the hospital having her son delivered ended up serving as her alibi. But even after clearing her name, she said police “almost refused” to give her the officer’s name who hit her vehicle.
“My two small children were in the back and the conclusion of the accident was that they had the wrong person…” Kimble said. “HELP ME AND MY BABIES GET JUSTICE.. THEY ARE WRONG AF & NEED TO BE FIRED!!!!!!”
Warning: This video of the aftermath of Kimble’s encounter with police contains profanity.
RELATED STORY: Black mom wanting to pull over in well-lit area sent armed deputy into fit of rage
Good judges are more important now than ever. In some states, judges are on the ballot this November. Tune in to The Downballot to listen to Justice Richard Bernstein talk about what being on the Michigan Supreme Court has been like, and how his re-election campaign is shaping up.
While Republicans try to overturn elections and make it harder to vote, volunteer to help save democracy by encouraging people to cast their ballots. Click here to view hundreds of local and national Get Out the Vote opportunities on the Daily Kos Mobilize feed, and sign up to volunteer on a national campaign or one near you.