Series of Police Vehicle Incidents in Huntsville

Huntsville experienced a series of incidents over the weekend involving police vehicles, resulting in injuries and arrests. The incidents began early Saturday morning, around 5:24 a.m., near the intersection of I-565 and Sparkman Drive. Huntsville Police officers were on the scene conducting traffic control and had closed two westbound lanes of I-565 to assist with a disabled vehicle when multiple police vehicles were struck by negligent drivers.

During the first incident, a driver collided with unoccupied police vehicles while officers were outside their patrol cars. Both the driver and a passenger sustained non-life-threatening injuries and were transported to a local hospital. While officers worked to clear the debris from this incident, another driver failed to move over and also struck an unoccupied police vehicle in the same area. This second driver was similarly transported for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

Additionally, an off-duty Huntsville Police officer named Scott Hartman was arrested for DUI following a separate two-vehicle accident that occurred on Saturday at approximately 2:30 a.m. at Church Street and Wheeler Avenue. One driver in that incident sustained minor injuries and was taken to the hospital, while Hartman displayed signs of impairment and was subsequently arrested. In accordance with departmental policy, he has been placed on administrative assignment.

Another significant event occurred shortly after midnight on Sunday when Kiara Shardae Burnett, 24, struck a police vehicle while attempting to evade arrest for an active warrant related to a probation violation. During the incident, Burnett collided with a tow truck and then reversed into a patrol vehicle, resulting in serious but non-life-threatening injuries to two officers inside the vehicle. Burnett’s child and another passenger were present in her vehicle but escaped unharmed and exited the vehicle during her attempt to flee. After hitting the police vehicle, Burnett fled the scene, leading to a vehicle chase that ended when she crashed into an unoccupied vehicle in a service station parking lot. Consequently, Burnett was arrested and faces multiple charges, including two counts of first-degree assault, leaving the scene of an accident with injuries, and felony attempting to elude. She is currently being held in the Madison County Jail on a $117,000 bond.

In a separate incident late Sunday night, a high-speed car chase originating in Tennessee resulted in a fatal crash in Huntsville. The pursuit initiated by the Fayetteville Police Department in Tennessee pursued the suspect, Austin Rian Gore, 21, as he entered Alabama. Gore lost control of his vehicle at a high rate of speed near a construction zone, veering off-road and striking a utility pole. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and the investigation into the crash remains ongoing with assistance from the Huntsville Police Department’s Traffic Homicide Unit.

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