Branden Bynum, a Chicopee teenager who survived a 2023 crash that killed his 13-year-old friend, has sued the city and two police officers. The lawsuit alleges that officers continued pursuing a Lexus despite risks that made a serious crash foreseeable, and that the pursuit violated department policy. Bynum was 17 and riding in the rear seat when the SUV crashed into a home on Montgomery Street.
The complaint says officers tried to stop the Lexus shortly before it fled, and alleges that it was traveling 86 mph in a 35 mph zone in the seconds before the crash. At about 2:45 a.m., the vehicle struck a curb and fire hydrant, then went through the wall of a home at 1084 Montgomery Street, according to MassLive. Thirteen-year-old Da’Vant Byrd died after being trapped in the vehicle. Bynum suffered a fractured spine, and homeowner Joseph Lucia was injured while asleep on his couch.
Fire Consumed Both House and Car
The crash ignited a fire that destroyed both the car and the home, according to the same report. The suit names officers Kyle Robbins and Aaron Beaulieu. It alleges that their decision to continue the pursuit breached department policy, which, according to the complaint, required officers to weigh the risks of a chase against the need to detain someone immediately.
The complaint also challenges Robbins' training and employment history. It alleges that he testified he had received no vehicle-pursuit training and that he was previously dismissed by the Harwich Police Department for reasons that included difficulty responding to training and poor officer-safety techniques, MassLive reported. Bynum alleges violations of his due process rights, failures by supervisors to train officers or end the pursuit, and negligence by the city.
What Federal Data Show About Pursuit Deaths
The Bureau of Justice Statistics reported an average of 355 people killed each year in pursuit-related crashes from 1996 through 2015. That national historical figure counts deaths, does not provide a serious-injury figure here, and does not establish a trend in Chicopee or Massachusetts.
Teen Driver and a Liquor Store Named in Complaint
The lawsuit does not stop at the police department. It also names J&J Package Store, accusing it of selling two bottles of tequila to then-19-year-old Stefen Baulkman without checking identification, even though the store was required to verify that buyers were at least 21. The complaint alleges Baulkman was intoxicated while driving the Lexus, which was headed from a family birthday gathering in Springfield toward Holyoke at the time of the chase, as reported by MassLive.
Bynum's is the second lawsuit against the city over the crash. The case was filed in Hampden Superior Court the previous month and transferred to federal court at Chicopee's request this past week, MassLive reported. Richard Herbert and Robert Rzeszutek represent Bynum. Herbert told the outlet that many wrong things had to happen for the disaster to occur.
City Has Fought a Similar Earlier Case
The litigation follows an earlier suit by Lucia against the city and its officers. In May, the city's attorney, Cole Fahrenkopf, asked a judge to dismiss that case, arguing that qualified immunity shielded the officers and that they had violated no established law or legal precedent, according to MassLive. Fahrenkopf did not return a request for comment on Bynum's suit. In reporting on Lucia's case, a Chicopee police spokesperson disputed that officers were pursuing the Lexus at the moment of impact, saying the car crashed before cruisers caught up. Lucia's complaint, by contrast, alleged that police chased the car at high speeds and prompted the crash.
A separate lawsuit in West Springfield raises related questions about pursuit decisions. Western Mass News reported that a car traveling the wrong way on Route 5 struck and critically injured Yurany Loaiza after a pursuit that began in Holyoke. Loaiza's lawsuit alleges Holyoke and West Springfield officers pursued driver Carlos Maldonado for more than three miles, including through an active construction zone, at high and increasing speeds. The case and related trial remain on hold. Loaiza's attorney has raised questions about the departments' pursuit policies and training.
