Cathedral City Police Officer Killed In High Speed Pursuit
Officials were investigating two crashes in Palm Springs that resulted from a high-speed chase on Friday night, killing a Cathedral City police officer.
Cathedral City Police Lt. Charles Robinson said Officer Jermaine Gibson, 29, a former Marine, tried to pull over a car around 11:30 p.m. on Date Palm Drive, just north of Interstate 10.
When the driver of the vehicle refused to stop, the officer chased the suspect.
It ended when Gibson lost control of the police cruiser and crashed into a palm tree, bursting into flames on the 1000 block of South Palm Canyon Drive, just north of Mesquite. He died at the scene..
The suspect’s car continued to drive north on South Palm Canyon, where it, too, crashed into a palm tree on the 600 block. One person was thrown from the car during that crash, while the other was trapped inside the car wgen it burst into flames.
The California Highway Patrol was investigating the Gibson’s accident, specifically looking into what caused the car to go out of control.
Palm Springs Police spokeswoman Rhonda Long said the two people inside the suspect car were taken to Desert Regional Medical Center with major injuries.
Palm Springs Police closed Palm Canyon between Mesquite and Camino Parocela,for several hours Saturday morning during the investigation of both crashes.
A yet to be named Memorial Fund will be established to assist his family through the Cathedral City Police Officers Association. All inquiries and donations should be directed to CCPOA President Albert Holloway at (951) 906-4552 or cathedralcitypoa@gmail.com.
No word yet on any funeral arrangements.
Stay with News Channel 3 for any new developments.
