Former Stamford officer will testify in trial for 2023 on-duty crash that killed pastor
Former officer Zachary Lockwood, 27, is charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle for a deadly on-duty crash on Wire Mill Road in Stamford that killed Rev. Tommie Jackson on July 26, 2023.
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The prosecution rested its case Tuesday in the trial of Zachary Lockwood, a former Stamford police officer charged in a crash that killed a local pastor, and Lockwood told the judge he does intend to testify in his defense.
Lockwood, 27, is charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle in the July 2023 crash that killed Tommie Jackson, 69, a well-known local pastor.
The state's final witness was Dr. Gregory Vincent, the associate medical examiner who performed the autopsy on Jackson.
Vincent testified Jackson sustained several injuries, with the most serious being his skull separated from his neck, causing internal decapitation, and distention of his brain stem. Jackson also suffered rib fractures, a lacerated aorta, blood around his lungs, bruising on his lungs and a lacerated liver, Vincent said. He told the jury the cause of death was "blunt injuries of the head, neck, torso and upper extremities," and the manner was "accident."
The crash happened on Wire Mill Road in Stamford, a residential, curvy street where Jackson lived. The pastor had just gone to his mailbox across the street and was walking back when Lockwood hit him.
On Monday, Trooper Ryan Hackett testified Lockwood was going as fast as 65 mph a couple of seconds before hitting Jackson and 46 mph while braking applied at impact. The speed limit on Wire Mill Road is 25 mph.
Lockwood was on his way to a call at the time and had been dispatched to use Code 1, a nonemergency response that means going with the flow of traffic and not using lights and sirens. Last week, the jury heard dispatch audio relaying that the incident involved “an old truck versus Toyota Camry” in a back lot on Hope Street. The dispatcher also said the truck driver had left but returned with four or five men who were harassing the Toyota’s driver.
Lockwood decided to upgrade his response, speeding and using his lights and sirens intermittently. Dashcam video from Lockwood’s police SUV shows him on speakerphone and complaining about the traffic to another officer who was also on the way.
“I’m going to f—ing Code 3 over there, dude. I’m all the way over on High Ridge right now,” Lockwood says.
“Oh damn! Don’t go Code 3! Go Code 2,” the officer responds.
According to the video, despite what Lockwood says, he does not upgrade to Code 3 and goes Code 2.
A Code 2 response is for urgent calls, during which officers use their lights and sirens at intersections and when encountering traffic, according to testimony from Stamford police. A Code 3 response is an emergency where police use their lights and sirens continuously. There are no speeds assigned to each code, according to the testimony.
Hackett testified Lockwood had his lights on at the time of the crash but not his sirens.
On Tuesday, the defense called four witnesses including Lockwood's father, Michael Lockwood, who testified about the Hope Street incident. Michael Lockwood told the jury he called his son after learning the truck involved in the minor collision was registered to a man Michael Lockwood called, “a career bad guy,” who was known to police for domestic cases, drugs and threatening an officer and his family. Michael Lockwood said he told his son to get to the scene immediately and to be safe.
Defense attorney Michael Fitzpatrick asked Michael Lockwood if his son had lawful authority to upgrade his response.
"Yes," Michael Lockwood responded.
"When you have five people returning to a scene and one of the people may be a known 'career bad guy,' that warrants Code 2, correct?" Fitzpatrick asked.
"Yes," answered Michael Lockwood.
On cross examination, State's Attorney Margaret Kelley got Michael Lockwood to acknowledge the dispatch code wasn't changed even after updated information came in about a possible disturbance on scene. Kelley also pointed out police were dispatched to Hope Street about two hours after the initial report of the minor collision, and nothing regarding one of the individual's criminal history or potential danger was relayed over the radio to other officers responding.
Lockwood’s trial is being held at Milford Superior Court because the case was transferred from Stamford after his arraignment due to potential conflicts of interest with the Stamford State’s Attorney’s Office. Last year, Lockwood turned down a plea offer that included two years in prison and a condition he not be recertified as an officer. He lost his job with Stamford police after an internal investigation. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison.
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