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Trooper in fatal OHP pursuit for stolen tag had rifle cocked before spinning out SUV at over 100 mph

Corey Jones Jul 23, 2022 Updated 47 min ago

In a field, next to the wreck of his grandmother’s SUV, Chris Hamlet saw his younger brother cough up blood before he noticed his own head wound while he screamed and cursed at the state trooper who caused the wreck.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol records show Trooper Tanner Eads had chased the Lincoln Navigator, reaching speeds of 115 mph, because of a stolen license plate and suspicious behavior. ... A passenger in the SUV, Hamlet said he was trying to talk his brother out of “joyriding” with a friend that night in Cleveland County.

About 4 a.m. on Jan. 13, 2021, Eads ended the chase by sending the SUV into a violent tumble at over 100 mph. Hamlet, 18, was thrown through the windshield. His brother was also ejected, but died. The other occupant, 17, ended up hospitalized along with Hamlet.

Early in the chase, the rookie trooper cocked his rifle in his lap and kept it there while driving, his in-car recording indicates. ... In an interview 69 days later, Eads told his colleague investigators, who had viewed the recording, the rifle was “next to me.” The OHP investigators didn’t pursue questioning about the positioning of the weapon, nor Eads failing to mention he had prepared to fire his rifle from behind the wheel.

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