VIDEO: Focus of I-75 death turns to how woman escaped police custody

Investigators are still trying to determine how a Lexington woman slipped out of a pair of police handcuffs and escaped out of the back of a police car Saturday night before running in front of an SUV, which struck and killed her.

Whitley County Coroner Andy Croley pronounced Cassandra L. Byrd, 31, of Lexington, dead at the scene about 10:19 p.m. Saturday.

She died instantly from massive injuries to most of her body. The official cause of death is blunt force injury to the head and chest area, Croley said.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Greg Hill, the accident reconstructionist heading up the investigation, said late Monday afternoon that police were at the point in the investigation where they are trying to determine how Byrd got out of the handcuffs and how she got out of the back of the cruiser.

"We’re trying to figure how exactly she got to where she was in the road and struck by a vehicle," Hill said. "The statement that we have from Deputy (Ben) Hodge is that she was handcuffed behind her back, and she was in the rear of his cruiser and that it was secured.

"Where we stand is trying to figure out where and how she exited that vehicle and by what means she did it."

Hill said that currently he has no theories on how this occurred, but he cautioned the investigation is still in its early stages.

Alcohol involvement suspected

Alcohol involvement is suspected and was a contributing factor, Hill said. He said that there were several opened and unopened cans of beer inside Byrd’s vehicle.

Hodge initially went to the scene to investigate a reported injury accident around the six-mile marker, which is near the Wolf Creek bridge overpass, said Whitley County Sheriff’s Lt. Detective Chuck Davis, who is leading an internal investigation into the incident.

When Hodge got to the scene, he was met by a first responder, who informed him that Byrd had no visible injuries but that she appeared to be "pretty drunk," Davis said.

Davis said marijuana was found in the console of the vehicle along with a small ceramic pipe that could have been used to smoke it in addition to alcohol.

Byrd was handcuffed and placed in the back seat of Hodge’s police cruiser on the driver’s side, Davis said.

Byrd was struck about 10 p.m. Saturday near the six-mile marker on I-75 when she entered the southbound lane of I-75 on foot and stepped into the path of a 2005 Honda Pilot that was operated by Lawrence Jutzi, 37, of Florence, according to state police.

911 recordings

According to a review of 911 telephone calls and radio traffic between first responders and 911 dispatchers that was obtained through a News Journal open records request shortly before deadline, the incident was initially reported by passersby to also have been a vehicle fire.

When Hodge arrived at the scene, he told 911 dispatchers, "She did not wreck. She drove off the side of the road. She is plowed drunk."

He went on to tell dispatchers that the woman appeared to have overheated her vehicle "big time" and that there was no damage to it whatsoever.

"She just drove off the side of the road and over heated," he told dispatchers also indicating that he was placing her under arrest and asking for another officer to respond to the scene with a portable Breathalyzer test.

A frantic Hodge can later be heard telling dispatchers, "Yeah, I’m 10-4 Dispatch. This lady’s been hit by a car! Roll me an ambulance … Dispatch, do you copy? Get me an ambulance!"

A short time later a still frantic Hodge can be heard on the recordings telling dispatchers, "She’s been hit by a car. She got out the back of my car! She’s been hit! She’s bad! … Get 101 out here."

Unit 101 is Whitley County Sheriff Lawrence Hodge, who is also Ben Hodge’s father.

The 911 dispatcher can later be heard calling Hodge and speaking to his wife Debbie, who informs them that he is getting dressed and is in route. She also tells the dispatcher that Hodge has requested that Davis be contacted and also sent to the scene.

During radio communications, Whitley County EMS is heard responding to the scene, and Air Evac Life Team, a medical helicopter service located at the Williamsburg-Whitley County Airport, lifts off in route to the scene.

A short time later, they are notified that the patient is deceased.

Dispatchers can also be heard contacting Croley, the coroner, who advises shutting down the interstate for the investigation, and a Williamsburg police officer, who suggests contacting Kentucky State Police to investigate the crash.

When Hodge is contacted about getting an accident reconstructionist to the scene or about shutting down the interstate, he advises dispatchers that he wants to wait until he arrives on the scene before making that decision.

A dispatcher is later heard contacting his supervisor, acting 911 Director Jessica Taylor, who authorizes him to go ahead and contact Kentucky State Police and get an accident reconstructionist in route to the scene, which he does.

(Editor’s note: Due to deadline constraints Tuesday, not all of the 911 recordings could be reviewed prior to press time.)

Thrown 200 feet

Byrd was thrown about 200 feet from the point of impact, and was pronounced dead at the scene, Croley said.
When Byrd was struck, she still had a handcuff locked around her left wrist, Croley said.

The state medical examiner’s office performed an autopsy Sunday morning. Officials are still waiting for results of toxicology tests.

Jutzi had four children in the vehicle with him, and was on his way to Hilton Head, S.C. for a family vacation when the accident occurred, Croley said.

Unavoidable

Croley said that Jutzi had no way of missing Byrd, and if he hadn’t struck her, then the vehicle behind him would have.
Jutzi, who was not injured, faces no charges.

Hill said that he’s not sure how Jutzi could have avoided Byrd because there was a vehicle next to him in the other lane.
"He was pretty much where he was supposed to be, and she ran in front of him," Hill said.

Croley said that he spoke with the victim’s family and friends, who said that they don’t know why she would have been in this area.

"She was supposed to be going north to her family in Indiana. She very well could have been so much under the influence that she didn’t know she was going south and thought she was going north," he said.

Croley said that both lanes of the interstate were shut down at one point so that an accident reconstructionist could perform measurements.

He said that the southbound lane was shut down for about four hours.

Others assisting at the scene or with traffic control included: KSP Trooper Scott Bunch, Williamsburg Fire Department, Williamsburg Police Department, Williamsburg Rescue Squad, Emlyn Volunteer Fire Department, Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses and Jerry Rains, Area 11 Manager for Kentucky Division of Emergency Management.

Fatalities across Kentucky

Preliminary statistics indicate that 10 other people died in nine separate crashes on Kentucky roadways from Tuesday, June 1, through Sunday, June 6, 2010, according to Kentucky State Police.

Seven of the crashes involved motor vehicles and one victim was not wearing a seat belt. Single-fatality crashes occurred in Boone, Estill, Jefferson, Scott, Shelby and Woodford counties. The suspected use of alcohol was a factor in the Boone and Jefferson County crashes. A triple-fatality motor vehicle crash occurred in Madison County.

One fatal ATV involved crash occurred in Greenup County.  The victim was not wearing a helmet.

Through June 6 preliminary statistics indicate that 267 people have lost their lives on Kentucky roadways during 2010. This is 68 fewer fatalities than reported for the same time period in 2009.