Witness concerned that deadly Lexington motorcycle crash may have been caused by officer
A witness who saw the lead-up to a deadly Lexington motorcycle crash is concerned the incident may have been caused by a Lexington police officer’s erratic driving.
Ana Roberson, a witness who saw the moments leading up to the crash that left 18-year-old Jillian Pendergrass dead, believes the officer’s driving may have caused the crash. Sgt. Guy Miller, a spokesperson for the Lexington Police Department, said the department’s collision reconstruction unit is aware of the concern and allegation, but didn’t release any other information about the crash.
“As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot release any specifics related to the collision or related investigation,” Miller said in an email to the Herald-Leader.
Miller also said people with information about the crash should contact the police department.
The police department denied an open records request for traffic camera footage of the crash, saying the footage was currently exempt from open records law because it is part of an active investigation. But the department did release a collision report Tuesday under the Kentucky Open Records Act.
The crash happened May 15 around midnight on Man o’ War Boulevard between Armstrong Mill Road and Trent Boulevard, according to a crash report filled out by police. Police previously said an officer was out on patrol when they saw Pendergass hit a light pole while riding a motorcycle.
The traffic collision report from the Lexington Police Department says Pendergrass looked over her shoulder while traveling in the right lane of Man o’ War Boulevard and lost control of the motorcycle’s front tire. Pendergrass fell off the motorcycle and it hit a curb and light pole. Pendergrass came to a stop on the sidewalk.
Factors contributing to the crash were failure to keep in the proper lane and not maintaining proper control of the vehicle, according to the crash report.
Witness: Lexington officer tailgated biker, swerved
Roberson, who said she was in a vehicle with her fiance the night of the crash, said she was driving on the inner lanes of Man o’ War Boulevard when a group of three motorcyclists, including Pendergrass, drove past them. She said she kept up with the trio for a while and they never appeared to be speeding or driving dangerously.
While on Man o’ War Boulevard, an officer zoomed past Roberson and pulled in between her and the motorcyclists, Roberson said. The motorcyclists and the officer got stopped at a red light, and after the light turned green, the officer drove really close to Pendergrass’ bike, which made Roberson think that the officer was going to pull Pendergrass over.
“Out of nowhere, in a split second, he’s swerving back and forth between two lanes. We’re like, ‘whoa what is he doing? Is he about to try to get in the middle of them, or is he going to try to pull us all over?’ It was weird what he was doing,” Roberson said. “Then we heard the boom, and then he stops right where he was at and that’s when the accident happened.”
Roberson said she didn’t see Pendergrass crash her motorcycle but did see the moments leading up to the collision and heard the sound of the light pole Pendergrass struck hit the ground. She’s still concerned the officer’s erratic driving caused the accident.
“He was on her tail, like he was so close to her,” Roberson said. “... She wasn’t doing nothing, she wasn’t speeding.”
After the collision, the officer and another witness, who happened to be a nurse, assisted Pendergrass while one of her friends called 911, Roberson said.
Pendergrass was sent to a local hospital, where she later died from multiple blunt force injuries, according to the Fayette County Coroner’s Office.
Police deny release of traffic camera footage
There is a traffic camera at the intersection where the collision occurred, and the city recently started recording footage from its traffic cameras as part of an initiative in Mayor Linda Gorton’s new budget to use the footage for investigations. The police department has access to that footage through its new real-time intelligence center.
The Herald-Leader requested traffic camera footage of the intersection where the crash occurred through the state’s open records law, but the request was denied by the police department, citing an open investigation.
Pendergrass was a 2022 graduate of Lafayette High School, a Fayette County Public Schools’ spokesperson confirmed.
This story was originally published June 7, 2023 at 6:34 AM.
