A Tarrant County jury declined to bring criminal charges against a Fort Worth police officer who fatally crashed into an uninvolved driver while chasing a stolen vehicle last year, the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney's Office confirmed.
Andre Craig, 57, was driving through the intersection of Rosedale Street and Evans Avenue July 6, 2023, when an unidentified police officer in a marked SUV hit him, ejecting Craig from his car. He died at the scene.
Officers were chasing a suspected stolen Dodge Challenger and attempted to stop the car by activating lights and sirens and deploying tire-deflation devices. Witnesses said Craig had the green light when an officer crashed into him.
The driver of the alleged stolen vehicle, 19-year-old Brian Hunter, is charged with evading arrest with a vehicle causing death.
Craig’s death prompted questions from family and the public about the Fort Worth Police Department’s pursuit policy and whether the officer who crashed into Craig — whose name FWPD has not released — followed the department’s pursuit guidelines during the July 2023 chase.
The city initially refused to release FWPD’s pursuit policy through public records requests from several media organizations after Craig’s death. When the Texas Attorney General’s Office ruled Fort Worth must release some of its records, the city sued to keep them private, arguing in court documents that releasing the policy would undermine police response during chases and endanger the public.
Meanwhile, other police departments told KERA News and the Fort Worth Report they make their policies publicly available to prioritize transparency. The city’s lawsuit is still pending, but the department later released parts of its pursuit policy with redactions.
Craig’s sister did not respond to a KERA News request for comment on the grand jury’s no-bill, but she previously called the city's efforts to keep the pursuit policy hidden "reprehensible" and said she was concerned by the city's lack of transparency.
Craig’s father Uriel Lemon Brown also sued the City of Fort Worth earlier this year, accusing the officer and the city of negligence and recklessness he said led to his son’s death during the high-speed chase.
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