Police Release Names Of Suspects Chased By Fallen Officer

Palm Springs police identified the two suspects chased by a Cathedral City police officer last Friday, that ended in his death.

Dexter Coleman, 46, of Cathedral City, and Durjan Germaine Gray, 34, of the Coachella Valley, were both injured when their car crashed into a palm tree just north of where Cathedral City Police Officer Jermaine Gibson died in a similar crash.

Coleman suffered major injuries, according to Palm Springs police spokeswoman Rhonda Long. He is listed in critical condition at Desert Regional Medical Center.

Gray suffered a broken jaw and broken leg bones, she said.

Gray was a parolee-at-large and was arrested on a parole warrant for trying to escape. Gray was in custody on Wednesday evening and was hospitalized at Riverside County General Medical Center in Moreno Valley.

The California Highway Patrol is asking the public for help investigating the deadly crash of Cathedral City police officer Jermaine Gibson.

They also looking for a special witness who stayed with Officer Gibson until first responders arrived.

“Just to give us some more information to fill in the blanks. We do have a time space there that we just don’t have information about,” said CHP Officer Donovan Rice.

The witness is described as a white man carrying a long board, an elongated skateboard. CHP Officers say he’ll know who he is.

Meanwhile, the CHP’s crash reconstruction team is working to evaluate road conditions during the crash.

“What the weather conditions were like, what the light conditions was like at that particular location he crashed his vehicle,” said Rice. “They will go over the road conditions, what type of pavement it is, and then they’re going to take measurements on that patrol vehicle, where it hit and where it moved after it made impact with the tree.”

According to Rice, once the CHP finishes its investigation, they’ll turn their findings over to the Palm Springs Police Department, which is conducting the criminal investigation. The agencies will then put a case together and present it to the district attorney’s office.

Officers hope prosecutors push for first-degree murder charges against the two suspects Gibson chased just before his death.

Cathedral City police said they don’t expect the CHP’s findings any time soon.

Flags are flying at half-staff at the CHP headquarters in Indio and around the valley for Gibson.

His fellow law enforcement officers must ignore the pain of his passing and focus on finding out what happened before his death, Rice said.

“I don’t care what kind of officer or what agency, whatever your doing, when it involves an officer, your an officer, it rips at your heart, but you have a job to do and you have to do the best job you can,” said Rice.