Crash reconstruction, body cameras detail investigation into Sikeston officer crash

New details of the Missouri State Highway Patrol’s investigation into a Feb. 29 fatal two-vehicle crash in Sikeston, Missouri, were finalized and published in a 149-page crash reconstruction report, which includes body-camera footage, speed analyses and vehicular data captured from both vehicles’ internal computers.

Andrew Cooper

As a result of his alleged involvement in the crash, charges were filed Wednesday in Scott County against 47-year-old Andrew J. Cooper for one Class B felony count of driving while intoxicated and causing a death, one unclassified felony count of armed criminal action and three Class D felony counts of driving while intoxicated and causing serious physical injury.

The Sikeston Department of Public Safety requested Missouri State Highway Patrol investigate the crash due to Cooper’s former position as a Sikeston DPS captain, and Cpl. James C. Cooksey was assigned as the investigating officer of the crash. Cooper was off-duty at the time of the crash, and he resigned from his position.

The head-on collision occurred at 9:15 p.m. when a 2016 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat traveling west on Salcedo Road failed to stop at a posted stop sign and struck a 2017 Chevrolet Equinox turning left onto eastbound Salcedo Road, according to the patrol’s reconstruction report signed by Sgt. Joseph M. Weadon.

Dodge event data

Weadon’s report described the actions of each vehicle based on examinations of the crash scene’s physical evidence, the vehicles involved and each vehicle’s event data recorder.

“According to the analysis of the evidence, and the conclusions described and illustrated in this report, I concluded this crash was the result of the driver of the Dodge exceeding the posted speed limit by driving 90 miles per hour when limited to 45 miles per hour, accelerating full throttle toward the intersection, and failing to stop at the stop sign,” Weadon stated.

The report stated the Dodge was traveling approximately 58 miles per hour and the accelerator pedal was pressed 62% at approximately five seconds and 563 feet from the intersection.

Approximately four seconds from impact and 470 feet from the intersection, the Dodge was traveling 67 miles per hour and the accelerator pedal was pressed 100%, according to the report.

Three to four seconds before impact, the rear tires of the Dodge lost traction and the driver of the Dodge let off of the accelerator pedal, according to the report.

The rear tires of the Dodge regained traction two-and-a-half seconds before impact, according to the report, and the driver of the Dodge again applied the accelerator pedal 100% one-tenth of a second after regaining traction.

Two seconds before impact and approximately 236 feet before the intersection, the Dodge was traveling at approximately 85 miles per hour and the accelerator pedal was pressed 100%, the report stated.

At one second from impact and approximately 107 feet from the intersection, the Dodge was traveling at approximately 90 miles per hour and the brake was on, according to the report.

The report estimated the Dodge to be traveling at a speed ranging from 76 to 83 miles per hour at the approximate time of impact.

Cooper was identified as the driver of the Dodge, according to the reconstruction report, and the passengers of the Dodge were identified as Andrew J. Cooper II and Joshua K. Atchley. The report stated all occupants of the Dodge were seriously injured.

Chevrolet event data

The report stated the Chevrolet was southbound on Columbine Street prior to impact, and during the five seconds of pre-crash data on the Chevrolet’s event data recorder, the vehicle traveled approximately 31 to 39 feet.

The driver of the Chevrolet began to accelerate to make a left turn at approximately three-and-a-half seconds before impact, according to the report.

“There was no way for the driver of the Chevrolet to know the Dodge would not stop at the intersection as he was making a left turn, or that the driver of the Dodge was accelerating at full throttle,” Weadon stated.

The Chevrolet traveled approximately 133.7 feet from impact to final rest, according to the report, and its path of travel was marked by a fluid trail, gouges in the pavement and tire marks.

The report stated the driver of the Chevrolet — identified as Christopher M. Cohen — sustained serious injuries because of the crash. The passenger of the Chevrolet — identified as 22-year-old Abigail T. Cohen of Sikeston — was fatally injured because of the crash, according to the report.

Human factors

One section of the reconstruction report included descriptions of interviews and body-camera footage from the night of the crash, with two video excerpts timestamped at approximately 10 minutes after the reported time of the crash.

In the report’s description of one of the video excerpts, a witness speaks to another Sikeston DPS officer about the driver of the Dodge’s level of intoxication. According to the report’s description of the video, the witness says Cooper told him “they blew the stop sign”.

Another section of the report stated Cooksey found evidence of Cooper consuming alcoholic beverages prior to his involvement in the crash.

Arrest made

According to Cooksey’s report, trooper Justin C. Johnson was asked to obtain a portable breath sample from Cooper prior to his transport for medical treatment. Cooksey stated he was later advised by Johnson that Cooper would not give a full breath sample.

A supplementary report filed by Johnson stated Cooper “attempted to blow around the mouthpiece to manipulate the sample,” and the sample taken in the ambulance indicated Cooper’s blood alcohol content to be .072%. Johnson’s supplementary report also noted the “strong odor of alcoholic beverages” coming from Cooper’s breath.

When Johnson asked Cooper whether he had anything to drink, Cooper said he drank two beers, according to the report.

Cooksey stated he then contacted Cooper, who was on a backboard in the back of an ambulance, and also noticed the odor of alcoholic beverages on Cooper’s breath. When asked, Cooper told Cooksey the last time he had a drink was “about an hour and a half ago” and mumbled when he spoke, according to Cooksey’s report.

Cooper agreed to Cooksey’s request to conduct the Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus Test, but Cooper “began blinking his eyes at a rapid pace” before the test was completed and would not follow the stimulus any longer, Cooksey’s report stated. A total of four clues were observed by Cooksey during the incomplete test, according to the report.

At 10:07 p.m., Cooper was placed under arrest before he was transported by ambulance to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, according to Cooksey’s report. Due to Cooper being released for medical treatment, Cooksey stated he was not photographed or fingerprinted.

Blood test refused, warrant required

At 10:54 p.m., Cooper refused a request to provide a blood sample as evidence, according to Cooksey’s report, and Johnson was required to obtain a search warrant through Cape Girardeau Associate Court.

Johnson also attempted to ask questions pertaining to the crash and Cooper refused to answer, according to Johnson’s supplementary report.

An affidavit for a search warrant for two blood samples to be taken 30 minutes apart was signed by Johnson, and the application for the search warrant was signed by Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Welker. The search warrant was authorized by Judge Benjamin Lewis and obtained at approximately 12:30 a.m. March 1, according to a supplementary report filed by trooper L.J. Haggett.

At 12:52 a.m., nearly four hours after the crash, two vials of blood were obtained from Cooper and sent to the Missouri State Highway Patrol Crime Laboratory for analysis.

Cohen was contacted in the emergency room of Saint Francis Medical Center by Haggett and Johnson, and he voluntarily agreed to submit a breath sample.

Cooper’s blood samples were analyzed and resulted to have an ethyl alcohol content of .049% with a variance of 0.006%. Cohen’s breath sample returned a blood alcohol content result of 0.000%.

In the State of Missouri, DWI laws prohibit all motorists from operating a motor vehicle while having an excessive blood alcohol concentration level of .08% or higher or while in an intoxicated condition.