Kentucky Cop Going 35 Over Kills Pedestrian, Faces No Charges

Officer Travis Richardson receiving an award for keeping unsafe drivers off the road

CRAB ORCHARD, Ky. — A police officer in Stanford, Kentucky was going 90 miles per hour in a 55 mile per hour zone when he struck a pedestrian with his vehicle on January 15. Following two weeks paid administrative leave, the officer returned to work and now faces no charges.

Abigail Whitehouse from Central Kentucky News reports:

Four months after the fatal pedestrian wreck, a KSP collision analysis acquired by the Interior Journal through an open records request, reveals Stanford officer Travis Richardson, 33, of Crab Orchard, was traveling 90 mph in a 55 mph zone when his issued 2008 Ford Crown Victoria struck and killed Howard Robbins, 69, of Crab Orchard.

Robbins, who was pronounced dead at Fort Logan Hospital in Stanford at 10:45 p.m., was walking across U.S. 150, just before Duvall Lane, when his body was hit and thrown to the south shoulder of the road, according to the reconstruction report.

Richardson was on his way to work in Stanford and a camera inside his cruiser captured the collision, which investigators used to reconstruct the scene and determine the high rate of speed at which he was traveling.

The camera, which Richardson “removed from the vehicle shortly after the collision,” also shows Robbins was “clearly in the east bound lane of traffic,” the report states.

Investigators said Richardson did not slam on the brakes immediately and although he did engage them, no marks were left on the roadway. A blood stain from Robbins’ body was found on the south shoulder about six feet from the road.

The Kentucky prosecuting attorney says he won’t be charging Richardson with a crime because he doesn’t consider what happened to be a crime:

“I just don’t think there’s enough there to charge him as a criminal. There was speed but there was no alcohol or drugs. I don’t think there’s enough there to convict him beyond a reasonable doubt of a criminal offense. Now there might be a civil offense.”

— Kentucky Prosecutor Eddie Montgomery

According to the Stanford Police Department Facebook page, Richardson was recently awarded with a plaque “for outstanding achievement in the apprehension of impaired drivers.” Richardson received the award for allegedly removing unsafe drivers from traffic approximately one month before killing Robbins by striking him with his patrol car at 90 miles per hour.