Duty Death: Keith Crenshaw - [Eupora]
End of Service: 23/10/2013
By Police1 Staff
EUPORA, Miss. — A Eupora police officer was killed Wednesday morning laying a spike strip down to stop a vehicle being pursued by police.
Officer Keith Crenshaw, 52, was hit by the suspect’s vehicle when the driver — wanted on suspicion of robbery — tried swerving to avoid the strip, and hit the median where the officer was standing, according to WTVA.
The fleeing vehicle crashed into a utility pole, also killing a passenger and critically injuring the driver. A third passenger in the vehicle was treated a nearby hospital, but his condition is unknown.
“[Crenshaw] did a fine job, loved his job,” said Eupora Mayor Dan Burchfield, who called the officer a personal friend. “He always went the extra mile. It didn’t stop at what was necessary for him, he did everything the community needed.”
The three suspects had attempted to rob a bank that morning, according to the Clarion Ledger, but their plot was foiled when bank employees saw them outside and locked the building before they could enter.
A pursuit spanned three counties before the suspects crashed their vehicle.