Another person dies after Arkansas State Police use controlled-crash PIT maneuver

A Lonoke County man died Monday after an Arkansas State Police trooper used the controversial PIT maneuver to end a high-speed chase, the agency announced today.

Andrew Muggs, 25, died when the chase ended with a crash. A report from the State Police said “Muggs was endangering the lives of other motorists by exceeding 100 mph and passing vehicles on the left shoulder during the 14-mile pursuit, which was initiated on Landers Road by the Sherwood Police Department.”

Muggs’ death is far from the first brought about the sterile-sounding but often deadly tactic known as the PIT (precision immobilization technique) maneuver, or TVI (tactical vehicle intervention). In these controlled crashes, officers nudge their own cars into the rear side of the target vehicle, causing it to spin out and ideally come to a stop.

The ideal outcome didn’t happen Monday, though, likely because the chase was reportedly reaching speeds above 100 mph. Many experts say PIT maneuvers aren’t safe at high speeds. The Los Angeles Police Department, for example, doesn’t allow its officers to use PIT maneuvers at speeds over 35 mph.

The Arkansas State Police have taken heat for deploying PIT maneuvers before. In 2021, State Police settled a lawsuit with Janice Harper, whose car spun out of control and flipped over in 2020 when an officer tried to stop her near Jacksonville using the controlled crash method. Harper was pregnant at the time.

Trooper Rodney Dunn said Harper had been speeding. Harper said she slowed and turned on her hazard lights, but delayed stopping because of the narrow shoulder on a roadway under construction.

The most recent PIT maneuver death in Arkansas happened in July 2022, when a 19-year-old Kentucky man died after a state trooper used a PIT maneuver to stop him near Forrest City.

Harper’s lawsuit prompted State Police to update their training and policy on when PIT/TVI maneuvers are acceptable.

Cindy Murphy, a spokesperson for Arkansas State Police, said troopers tread carefully when deciding whether to use controlled crashes.

“We are very intentional about training troopers to use PIT to end a pursuit quickly to protect the lives and property of the citizens of Arkansas,” she said by email. Recruits log 76 hours of driver training in troop school, then between eight and 16 hours every year after that, she said.

The Washington Post investigated the use of PIT maneuvers nationwide in 2020. Their story included video of Arkansas State Police in Fort Smith executing a PIT maneuver at 109 mph on April 10, 2020. Justin Battenfield died in the resulting crash, and the officer was injured. From the Washington Post story:

Since 2016 at least 30 people have died, and hundreds have been injured — including some officers — when police used the maneuver to end pursuits, according to an investigation by The Washington Post.

Out of those deaths, 18 came after officers attempted to stop vehicles for minor traffic violations such as speeding. In eight cases, police were pursuing a stolen car, and in two, drivers were suspected of serious felonies. Two other drivers had been reported as suicidal.

Ten of the 30 killed were passengers in the fleeing vehicles; four were bystanders or the victim of a crime.

THV11’s Rolly Hoyt looked at the Arkansas numbers in February of this year and found that PIT maneuvers remain a go-to tactic. He reported: