U.S. Attorney’s Office Concludes Investigation Into Fatal Police Pursuit of James Herndon

            WASHINGTON - The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia announced today that there is insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights or District of Columbia charges against four U.S. Park Police (USPP) officers, in connection with the June 2022 fatal police pursuit of James Herndon. 

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office, the USPP, and the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) conducted a comprehensive review of the incident. This included a review of witness accounts; physical evidence; body-worn camera, surveillance footage, traffic camera footage, and aerial video footage; police radio recordings; and MPD and USPP reports.

            According to the evidence, on June 27, 2022, MPD attempted to conduct a traffic stop on Herndon, who was riding a three-wheeled vehicle, based upon inaccurate information that he was a wanted homicide suspect.  When Herndon fled from the officers, MPD initiated a police pursuit of him.  During the pursuit, MPD requested assistance from USPP.  After USPP officers joined the pursuit, MPD learned that Herndon was wanted for questioning only, and MPD terminated its pursuit.  USPP was not notified of this corrected information and continued to pursue Herndon, who lost control of his vehicle and crashed in a single-vehicle accident a short time later.  Herndon was pronounced deceased at the scene.

            After a careful, thorough, and independent review of the evidence, federal prosecutors have found insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the USPP officers who were pursuing Herndon at the time of the crash are criminally liable for his death.

Use-of-force investigations generally  

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office reviews all police-involved fatalities to determine whether sufficient evidence exists to charge officers with violations of either federal criminal civil rights laws or District of Columbia law.  To prove civil rights violations, prosecutors must be able to prove that the involved officers willfully used more force than was reasonably necessary under the circumstances.  This requires evidence that the force used was excessive under the circumstances, and that the officer acted with the specific intent to do something the law forbids.  Similarly, for District of Columbia offenses such as second-degree murder or voluntary manslaughter, where a person reasonably believes that he is or others are in danger of serious bodily injury, force may be used to defend against that danger. 

            The U.S. Attorney’s Office remains committed to investigating allegations of excessive force by law enforcement officers and will continue to devote the resources necessary to ensure that all allegations of serious civil rights violations are investigated fully and completely.