Newly released police dash camera video reviewed by the CBS News Texas I‑Team shows the final 90 seconds of a 2023 Fort Worth police chase that ended when a patrol SUV collided with another car, killing 57‑year‑old Andre Craig, an uninvolved driver.
The crash sparked a nearly three‑year I‑Team investigation into Fort Worth police pursuit policies. The department’s rules became the focus of open‑records disputes and even a city lawsuit aimed at blocking their release.
The July 2023 chase began after a FLOCK license plate reader alerted officers to a stolen Dodge Challenger in southeast Fort Worth. Officers found the car parked at a house they had visited before on other stolen‑vehicle calls. According to police records, officers surrounded the neighborhood with spike strips — part of what a supervising sergeant described in a report as an effort to “prevent a pursuit.”
The dash‑camera footage comes from Officer Linuel Joel’s vehicle. Joel, a 19‑year veteran, begins pursuing after another officer deploys a spike strip and punctures the Challenger’s tires. When the driver refuses to stop, Joel continues the chase through rush‑hour traffic on Evans Avenue, where the speed limit is 30 mph. Department records show speeds approaching 100 mph.
A police helicopter, Air One, appears overhead in the video. While Air One can allow officers on the ground to back off without losing sight of a suspect, Joel kept pursuing.
The video shows the patrol SUV moving through several red‑light intersections, slowing to clear them safely. But at West Rosedale Street and Evans Avenue, the video shows Craig’s SUV entering the intersection on a green light as Joel approaches on a red. The two vehicles collide. According to the crash report, Craig died at the scene.
Police arrested the driver of the Challenger, Brian Hunter, then 19, after the car stopped and two people ran from the vehicle. Hunter later pleaded guilty to evading arrest causing death and is now serving a three‑year prison sentence.
Fort Worth police suspended Joel for 15 days for violating the department’s pursuit policy.
Last year, the City of Fort Worth settled a wrongful‑death claim with Craig’s family for $250,000.
The I‑Team and other news organizations requested FWPD’s pursuit policy in 2023. City officials went to court to block a Texas attorney general’s ruling that parts of the policy should be released, arguing that full disclosure would reveal sensitive tactics. Days later, the department published what it described as “significant portions” of the policy online but kept other sections redacted.
The updated policy emphasizes a “risk versus harm” standard — directing officers to begin or continue a pursuit only when letting a suspect escape is likely to pose more danger to the public than the pursuit itself.
Fort Worth police declined to comment on the case or the newly released video.
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