A Virginia mother, traumatized after police rammed her vehicle in a case of mistaken identity, is demanding an apology from the department and the officer involved be fired.
Jamee Kimble said she was on her way to Walmart in Alexandria to get groceries for the week when a Fairfax County police cruiser drove into the front bumper of her car at a traffic light.
Kimble’s 1-year-old, 5-year-old children and a friend were also in the vehicle. Police accused her of being involved in a high-speed chase the week before, but Kimble said she was in hospital undergoing a cesarean birth at the time.
“They stopped the wrong person,” Kimble says in a video posted on Instagram on Oct.1.
“I have been in the hospital having my f———king my baby,” yelled the enraged mother. “Having my baby. My baby is a week—six days old today.”
Fairfax County police officials received an alert about the vehicle listed in the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) around 3:30 p.m. The occupants were labeled as armed and dangerous. Officials said they “conducted a felony vehicle stop” and detained the women and children in the vehicle.
“They had me hold both of my hands out the car window while they pointed a gun at me screaming that I could become a threat if I moved, in front of my kids,” Kimble wrote on Instagram.
Kimble said she noticed a patrol car following them. It pulled up next to her vehicle, and as she attempted to make a left into the Walmart parking lot, her car was surrounded by other police cruisers. One was going 60 to 70 mph and struck her vehicle, she wrote.
The mother said the officer “threw” her and the kids in the back of the patrol car. Police officials confirmed that Kimble and her friend were also handcuffed.
“It was just so shocking and mind-wrecking,” Kimble told News4. “Everything happened so fast that when I didn’t realize what was going on, he had already hit us.”
The Fairfax County Police Department said in a statement that the cruiser was “traveling at an estimated speed under 10 mph” and “there was minimal damage to the car.”
“Officers identified the occupants, determined they were not owners of the vehicle, were not involved in the incident in Arlington County, and were released. The driver requested to be taken to the hospital by Fire & Rescue personnel at that time,” officials wrote.
Department officials have launched an administrative review of the incident. A representative is scheduled to speak to Kimble on Wednesday, she wants an apology and the officers to be punished for putting her family in harm’s way.
“I still am very angry and, more than anything, hurt because I teach my children that the police are supposed to protect us and that if they need anything they can call them for help,” Kimble told News4.
“This was a very traumatic situation, and for a long time, probably forever for me and my 5-year-old, this will forever affect us… “I could have lost my life. My kids could have lost their lives. Luckily, everyone in the car was in a seat belt,” she continued.
