Man whose car was totaled by driver in Fort Worth police chase questions policing policy

A man whose car was crashed into by a driver leading Fort Worth police on a chase is calling for accountability.

Dashcam video shows Clarence Mosley’s vehicle being hit during the pursuit in July, totaling his car. Mosley is now asking if the police could have done more to prevent collateral damage.

Clarence Mosley is a US Navy veteran living with a disability. On July 11, he was driving home from the Lake Worth area when the unexpected struck.

“All I saw was the red flash of the truck, and an airbag just popping me in the face,” said Mosley.

Dashcam video from another driver showed a red truck swing wildly across traffic, smashing into the side of Mosley’s car.

“He came through the stop sign, bolted through and side-swiped me,” Mosley said.

Mosley pulled over to safety and waited for help to arrive.  When first responders came to evaluate him he learned what he’d been caught up in.

“Doing the ambulance, the cop told me that they caught the guy,” Mosley said. “He crashed into a business and they shot him.”

Fort Worth police said the car that hit Mosley was driven by 28-year-old Trevor Davila, who had stolen it and was leading officers on a chase.

Investigators said they eventually used spike strips on the road and Davila crashed into a business, where they said he tried to steal another car at gunpoint.

Police said when Davila refused to drop his weapon he was shot by officers and arrested, now charged with Aggravated Robbery and Evading Arrest.

“Angry,” Mosley said of his emotions after the crash. “Just the simple fact it happened.”

The incident sent Mosley to the hospital and totaled his car.

He said he was left with more than $14,000 in costs from the wreck, as well as questions about how police handled the pursuit.

“What was their policy?” Mosley asked. “Did they have enough time to have somebody blocking the road to keep the person from trying to advance from there?”

The veteran felt in this case he was collateral damage, and he wanted to know if that could have been avoided.

“I don’t put blame on anybody but the guy that stole the truck,” Mosley said. “But could they have done better?”

The Fort Worth Police Department’s latest General Orders list some details of their vehicle pursuit policy for officers but redact the list of situations when officers should or should not pursue fleeing suspects.

The sections on Pursuit Tactics and the use of Tire Deflating Devices are also restricted from public view.

NBC 5 reached out to Fort Worth police to ask if this chase followed their pursuit policy and for a response to Mosley’s concerns.

“That case is still under investigation by major case as it is a CPI, a Critical Police Incident. The finding of the pursuit are part of that investigation.”