TOLEDO, Ohio — The family of a Henry County man killed when he was struck by a vehicle fleeing Toledo police in 2022 is suing the city over its police chase practices.
Mohamed Souare, of New Bavaria, was 35 when he was killed as he walked near the intersection of Sylvania Avenue and Willys Parkway on the night of Feb. 27, 2022.
"The lawsuit takes aim at the practices of the Toledo Police Department’s vehicle pursuits, claiming the city turns a blind eye to the department’s policing pursuit tactics which have led to numerous innocent injuries and deaths," according to a news release from Charles E. Boyk, the family's attorney.
Michael Jackson, 37, was arrested after the crash. Toledo police said officers had stopped Jackson's vehicle for a traffic violation when he took off and led police on a chase through the city.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims the police chase that led to Souare's death involved 20 officers and 15 police vehicles and that the chase reached speeds of 113 mph, leading through densely populated residential neighborhoods, red lights and oncoming traffic.
The chase ended when Jackson's vehicle crashed through a barricade, struck a work vehicle and rolled over, striking Souare in the process.
The full lawsuit can be read by clicking here or reading below.
At the time of his death, Souare, an immigrant from Mali and a U.S. military veteran, was saving up money to bring his wife and children over to the U.S.
"Now they have no way of even being able to come to the United States, so on top of the emotional impact their whole future has been destroyed," Boyk said.
In April 2022, Jackson pleaded no contest to aggravated vehicular homicide, failure to stop at the scene after an accident and failure to comply with an order or signal of a police officer. A Lucas County Common Pleas judge sentenced him to prison and Ohio prison records show he is incarcerated at North Central Correctional Institution in Marion.
According to the Souare family's lawsuit, the initial traffic stop was for a minor traffic violation.
"While the driver, a Black male, was initially compliant, he balked when four officers surrounded him and asked him to step out of the vehicle – requesting he be permitted to wait until his wife arrived," according to a news release from the law firm. "When officers attempted to open his car door, he drove off."
The lawsuit contends city officials are aware of the dangers of its police vehicle pursuits and asks for unspecified compensatory damages.
Boyk said the incident also highlights a larger problem in the Toledo Police Department and that the department's own pursuit data shows that in 2022, one in three chases led to a crash, and between 2021 and 2022, of the department's 341 pursuits there were 117 accidents, 95 injuries and five deaths.
Boyk said to WTOL 11 Tuesday he and his office want to get restitution for Souare's family and bring more accountability to TPD.
City of Toledo spokesperson Rachel Hart responded to the lawsuit with a statement Tuesday:
"This was a tragic accident, but it is misleading to blame the Toledo Police Department’s pursuit policy for what happened," the statement reads. "The person who caused this accident had a warrant for his arrest, was driving extremely fast and is now serving a lengthy prison sentence. The City will not comment further due to the pending litigation."
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