LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Thursday, Louisville Metro Police released dashcam video of a deadly crash from last Wednesday involving an LMPD officer and 61-year-old Charles Briscoe.
Briscoe, whose funeral was Friday, died at the scene of that crash on Fern Valley Road.
The dashcam video shows Officer Alyssa Begel weaving through traffic and speeding without her lights or siren on.
Police said she was responding to an emergency request for help from EMS on Interstate 65.
LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey said on Wednesday that investigators determined that Begel was speeding on Fern Valley Road and did not have the cruiser's lights and siren activated.
Officer Begel was found at fault in a different crash back in 2023, but WDRB is still working to get the exact details of that crash.
LMPD has now opened an internal investigation into the April 2 crash on Fern Valley Road as well as a criminal investigation.
For Edward Litsey III, that crash brought back painful memories.
His father was killed on May 6, 2003 after an LMPD officer ran a red light while responding to an emergency without lights or siren.
In an exclusive interview with WDRB's Christie Battista, he's still searching for answers, 22 years later.
"It refreshed my memory about my father who had a very similar incident," Litsey said.
He still gets choked up recalling that day.
"After that, you know, it was tough for everybody in our family," Litsey recalled. "It was tough for the officer I'm sure. It reaches a lot of different people."
His father, Edward Litsey Jr., was hit and killed at the intersection of Fourth Street and Winkler Avenue in May 2003. Another man, who was standing with his bicycle, was also hurt.
LMPD Officer Eugene Fey ran a red light at Fourth Street and Winkler Avenue on May 6, 2003, hitting the SUV that Edward Litsey Jr. was driving, killing him. (WDRB image)
LMPD Officer Eugene Fey blew through a red light and hit the SUV Litsey's father was driving.
"He (Officer Fey) didn't have no sirens, no lights on, anything," a witness said in 2003.
Officer Fey received a 25-day suspension without pay after entering an Alford Plea on a speeding charge. An Alford Plea allows someone to maintain their innocence even though the evidence could likely result in a conviction.
At the time, Litsey said it was a slap in the face. He feels the same today.
"The officer that was responsible for my father's death didn't even lose his job, and it's not that I was after his job, but it's just the principle of the matter that somebody caused a death," Litsey said. "There needs to be consequences."
After seeing the dashcam video of the April 2 crash, Litsey couldn't help but think of his dad.
"I just noticed the officer never had on any emergency lights," Brandon Branson, a witness from the April 2 crash said.
"Did we not learn from our lessons?" Litsey said. "Is this a systemic problem within the police force that the very thing that they say that they're gonna do which is protect and serve citizens that they're not doing at the degree they should do or they haven't learned lessons from the past?"
It brought those painful memories right back to the surface for Litsey, and he reached out to WDRB.
"For a police officer to go down the street weaving in and out of traffic with no lights or sirens on and causing the death of somebody, pretty close to the same thing that happened to my father is just unacceptable and ridiculous," Litsey said.
Kentucky Statute states warning lights and sirens are supposed to be activated continuously when responding to an emergency. According to LMPD policy, there are exceptions to that rule, but it's not clear if that was the case last week.
"If I gotta stand here, sit here and talk with you 22 years later, something's wrong," Litsey said. "The training is not effective enough or they don't retrain or they let people get by with things and then just let it go. I don't know, I'm not sure of their training methodology but something is wrong in the system. If it wasn't, then we wouldn't be sitting here talking today."
Litsey's plea is for something to change so no more lives are lost.
"You don't get to say bye to him," Litsey said. "That's the hard part. Just, they're gone and the gentleman that was hit last week, you'll never get to say bye or Merry Christmas or Happy Thanksgiving or I love you."
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