Deaf Driver Had Prior Record, Led NC Trooper on High-Speed Chase Before Fatal OIS

On Aug. 18 a North Carolina Highway Patrol trooper fatally shot a deaf motorist at the end of a high-speed vehicle pursuit Tuesday, the NCHP released audio of radio traffic from that chase, revealing that before the officer-involved shooting several attempts were made to stop the driver.

The short clip of radio traffic between the trooper and his dispatcher offers the most detailed account yet of the 7-mile chase, which started on Interstate 485 when the trooper said he clocked Daniel Harris’ Volvo going 88 mph in a 70 mph zone. It ended in a north Charlotte neighborhood.

The trooper's running account of the daylight pursuit challenges the belief by Harris’ family that the 29-year-old deaf man may not have heard or understood the trooper’s commands.

Based on the audio, that explanation seems unlikely. In his radio dispatches. The trooper describes to dispatch a chase down I-485 that reached speeds of up to 100 mph, the mile markers whipping by. He reports twice trying to stop Harris’ Volvo, first by strategically ramming the vehicle, then attempting a “rolling road block” later in the chase. Neither worked. Less than three minutes into the audio, the trooper says he tried to “PIT” Harris out on the exit ramp from I-485 onto Rocky River Road. That failed to end the pursuit as well.

The man drove on to his home. Where he tried to jump out and run. Seconds after the trooper informs dispatch the driver is out of the car and running, a shot was fired and the trooper called for an ambulance.

The trooper is on administrative leave pending the outcome of an investigation, which could take up to three months, the Charlotte Observer reports.

According to public records, Harris was twice charged with resisting arrest in 2010. He was found guilty in Connecticut; in Florida, the charge was dropped.