A Missouri police officer has died after crashing her patrol car during a traffic stop pursuit. Phylicia Carson, a mother of six children, died when her vehicle struck a tree while she chased a speeding motorist who refused to stop. The Camden County Sheriff’s Office identified the driver as 23-year-old Christopher Aaron Bishop Wehmeyer, who was later arrested and faces felony charges for resisting arrest and creating a substantial risk of death.
The incident happened on US Highway 54 when Carson spotted a speeding driver and activated her sirens, but Wehmeyer refused to pull over. During the subsequent chase, the 33-year-old officer lost control, and when her car hit the tree, it burst into flames, killing her instantly.
Osage Beach Police Chief Todd Davis told reporters that Carson joined the police department just last year, and that she leaves behind her husband Grant and their six children. Wiping away tears, Mr. Davis said, “Please keep the Carson family, our Department, and our community in your thoughts and prayers as we work through this tragic event.”
The suspect is held without bond in Camden County Jail.
The tragedy occurred just days after lawmakers in the Show-Me State passed Valentine’s law, which increases criminal penalties for suspects who flee police traffic stops. Valentine’s law applies a minimum one-year jail term – without probation or parole – if fleeing police creates a “substantial risk of injury.” The sentence rises to five years minimum if the incident results in injury and to ten years if it causes a person’s death.
The legislation is named after St. Louis police officer Antonio Valentine, who died in 2021 when his patrol car was struck by a driver fleeing a scene in a stolen vehicle. St. Louis County Police told lawmakers last year that there were 2,740 “failure to yield” instances in St. Louis County in 2023, and that law enforcement officers were sometimes reluctant to pursue drivers due to safety concerns. Joe Patterson, Executive Director of the St. Louis County Police Association, said the “bad guys figured it out pretty quick we weren’t chasing them, so now they just run from everything all the time.”
