A Portland woman is taking the city to court, claiming a 2024 police pursuit of a stolen car ended with her injured, her vehicle destroyed, and officers pointing guns at her. On Tuesday, Selena Pinnell filed a lawsuit seeking $2.5 million, naming two Portland Police Bureau officers and alleging their decisions during the chase turned a traffic stop into a violent crash on Southeast 82nd Avenue. Her attorneys say she suffered injuries to her leg, chest, and head when her car collided with the overturned suspect vehicle.
What the lawsuit says
In the complaint, Pinnell alleges Officers Alec Schultz and Dylan Shairs tried to pull over a red Subaru with no license plates, only for the driver to speed off and run a stop sign before entering Southeast 82nd Avenue. The lawsuit says the Subaru, which had been reported stolen earlier that day, rolled onto its roof. As the driver allegedly tried to flee the wrecked car, Pinnell’s vehicle collided with the overturned Subaru in the confusion. The filing also claims officers then approached Pinnell with firearms pointed at her head, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive.
Pursuit policy and bureau changes
The Portland Police Bureau updated its vehicle pursuit directive in December 2023, giving supervisors more leeway to approve chases, authorizing certain "extraordinary circumstances" and removing some speed thresholds, according to a bureau news release from the Portland Police Bureau. Willamette Week reported that officials framed the shift as a response to more drivers refusing to stop for police, and said the directive would be paired with additional officer training. Coverage from OPB has detailed how the bureau’s data-driven approach to stolen vehicles and its new tracking tools are influencing when officers decide to keep following a suspect car or back off.
Officer records and pending review
Personnel records cited in the lawsuit show that Officer Alec Schultz was first hired in 2020, resigned in 2023, then returned to the bureau about a month before the crash. He later went on leave in July 2024 and ultimately resigned again, and the Department of Public Safety Standards and Training now has an open case involving Schultz, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The complaint contends Schultz drove close to 50 miles per hour, lost control of his vehicle and hit a large rock before the pursuit continued. Pinnell’s attorney, Michael Fuller, argues in the filing that those alleged actions show the city failed to follow its own pursuit directive. The lawsuit notes that the Portland Police Bureau and the city attorney’s office declined to comment, citing the ongoing litigation.
Legal note
Civil cases arising from police pursuits typically hinge on whether officers followed department policy and whether supervisors authorized and monitored the chase as required. Those questions are likely to be front and center in discovery in this case. Portland has already been dealing with several costly claims and recent settlements tied to police conduct, a pattern that local coverage has linked to heightened scrutiny of bureau policies and oversight, as outlined by Portland Mercury.
What happens next
The lawsuit now moves through civil court, where attorneys will typically seek dash cam, body cam, and dispatch records in an effort to map out exactly who authorized the pursuit and whether any rules were broken along the way. Pinnell is asking for $2.5 million in damages along with broader examination of the city’s pursuit practices. The city will have a chance to file its formal response in court. We will track new filings and public statements and update this story as additional records are released.
