The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published September 4, 2024

Osage Beach officer killed in vehicle pursuit

OSAGE BEACH - An Osage Beach officer has been killed in a pursuit early Saturday morning.

Officer Phylicia Carson, 33, was pronounced dead at the scene by Camden County Medical Examiner Drew Hall at 2:51 a.m.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol investigated the crash. Their brief description of the crash was:

“Fatality Crash, next of kin notified. Occurred as Vehicle 1 crossed the center of the roadway while in pursuit of a violator and began to skid, causing Vehicle 1 to travel off the left side of the roadway and strike a tree. After impacting the tree, Vehicle 1 caught fire.”

Last Saturday morning, Osage Beach Police Chief Todd Davis held a press conference and gave more details on the incident. A full transcript of his comments is below and explains more of what happened.

“On August 31, 2024 at approximately 1:18 hours, an Osage Beach Officer observed a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on westbound Highway 54 near Passover Road. The officer activated his emergency equipment and initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle. The vehicle failed to stop and accelerated at which time the officer continued pursuing the vehicle. The vehicle pursuit continued west on Highway 54 exiting on Route Y and then onto Midway Road and then onto A Road. At approximately 1:36 a.m. Osage Beach Communications was advised by the Camden County Sheriff’s Department communications center that responding deputies located a vehicle off roadway and it was on fire. This vehicle was an Osage Beach Patrol car. Attempts to contact the Osage Beach Officers involved in the pursuit met with negative results. At approximately 1:42 hours, Osage Beach Communications were notified via telephone that the vehicle being pursued crashed on A Road in the area of Canary Lane and the driver was taken into custody. The Osage Beach Patrol Vehicle involved in the crash was being driven by Officer Phylicia Carson. Officer Carson perished in the crash. Officer Carson was the secondary unit in the pursuit. Officer Carson has been employed by the city in department since June of 2023. Officer Carson leaves behind her husband and six children. Please keep the Carson family, our department and our community in your thoughts and prayers as we work through this tragic event. The crash and criminal investigation is being conducted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol. The Osage Beach Police Department was assisted by the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Camden County Sheriff’s Department, the Miller County Sheriff’s Department, Camden County Ambulance District and the Mid-County Fire Protection District. We would like to thank everyone who has reached out to offer their condolences and assistance during this difficult time.”

A new state law, Valentine’s Law, went into effect last Wednesday and deals specifically with fleeing from law enforcement. The newly enacted laws state:

“575.151. Valentine’s Law — aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of a motor vehicle, offense of — penalty. — 1. This section shall be known and may be cited as “Valentine’s Law”.
2. A person commits the offense of aggravated fleeing a stop or detention of a motor vehicle if he or she knows or reasonably should know that a law enforcement officer is attempting to detain or stop a motor vehicle, and for the purpose of preventing the officer from effecting the stop or detention, he or she flees and:
(1) Such person operates a motor vehicle at a high speed or in any manner which creates a substantial risk of serious physical injury or death to any person;
(2) As a result of such flight causes physical injury to another person; or
(3) As a result of such flight causes death to another person.
3. A person is presumed to be fleeing a vehicle stop or detention if he or she continues to operate a motor vehicle after he or she has seen or reasonably should have seen clearly visible emergency lights or has heard or reasonably should have heard an audible signal emanating from the law enforcement vehicle pursuing him or her.”

In this accident the suspect - who was not named as of press time – could be facing the penalty associated with subdivision (3) of subsection 2. That penalty is “The offense of aggravated fleeing a stop or detention in violation of subdivision (3) of subsection 2 of this section shall be a class A felony.”

The name of the suspect and the charges he faces were not available at press time due to the Labor Day Holiday period.

Chief Davis said he has been with the city for 30 years and as far as he knows, this is the first time an Osage Beach Officer has lost their life in the line of duty.