MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - A Shelby County Sheriff's deputy was involved in a high speed chase that ended up costing the taxpayer thousands.
Even worse, his bosses say he shouldn't have done it.
No one at the Shelby County Sheriff's Office knew about the chase until days later.
It started when a car drove through a red light at Hacks Cross and 385. The officer made an immediate u-turn, and the chase was on. Passing cars at what's estimated to be one hundred miles per hour, he drove through the red light at Hack Cross and Winchester without a pause.
Deputy Raynard Hill was behind the wheel. When Hill drove into a business park, the off-roading began. Hill drove up curbs, across grass and down more curbs.
After all this high-speed driving, chasing the driver around and around, the bad guy got away.
ABC 24 News showed the video to the Justice Network's Paul Ross, who teaches defensive driving classes.
He noted, "It was almost like the police officer was endangering more cars than the one he was after."
Procedure in high speed chases is for the deputy to first call dispatch immediately for permission. High speed chases are only supposed to occur when something serious has happened; running a red light is not on the list of approved reasons.
The truth is, Hill never called dispatch and never recorded the event in his log book.
The reason he didn't get away with it is because another deputy discovered the extensive damage to the squad car's undercarriage, steering and radiator, adding up to an estimated $3,500 in damage.
The truth is, the sheriff's office didn't take it lightly. Hill was slapped with a 30-day unpaid suspension.
Hill is lucky this happened late at night and no one got hurt; Hacks Cross and Winchester can be a busy place.
