CHEROKEE COUNTY, Texas — This is the first part is a two-part CBS19 investigative series.
Documents, police video and local officials have revealed new information about the arrest of a Cherokee County constable surrounding his alleged actions that ended a police chase and nearly ended a man's life.
Pct. 4 Constable Jamie Beene was recently indicted for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, which prosecutors say was his service vehicle.
The indictment alleges that on Oct. 26, 2021, Beene intentionally, recklessly or knowingly caused serious bodily injury to motorcyclist Jerry Stanfield by hitting him with a vehicle.
For the first time, CBS19 obtained the dash cam and body cam footage from that 2021 chase and crash. Stanfield's mother Susan Ward wants answers to what really happened.
Stanfield loved motorcycles. His nickname was Crash, and he loved to flaunt the law, Ward said.
According to jail records he faced several charges in Smith and Cherokee counties, ranging from assault, to evading arrest, and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle.
On the night of Oct. 26, 2021, he was back in the headlights of law enforcement. Stanfield sped away from a traffic stop for a fictitious license plate in New Summerfield.
His mother remembers it well.
"He's got three cops behind him and he's moving," Ward said.
In newly released dash cam video from New Summerfield police, Officer Cody Welch can be seen pursuing Stanfield.
After eight minutes of a dangerous pursuit, the officer eventually lost sight of the motorcycle even when the chase reached speeds of 140 mph near downtown Troup, according to the incident report.
Two minutes later after losing Stanfield, Welch learned the chase is over.
The motorcycle crashed into Beene.
Documents requested from the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office show at approximately 7:47 p.m., Beene advised that the motorcycle had hit his patrol unit head-on.
In additional body camera footage from the sheriff's office, members of law enforcement can be heard discussing what happened.
"Jamie beene was involved in a pursuit along with New Summerfield PD with a motorcycle. The motorcycle hit Jamie Beene head-on. Jamie Beene's OK. The dude's probably paralyzed from the neck down," officers on the video could be heard.
Ward said she believes Beene was laying in wait.
"He tried to lay the bike down and when he did the handle bar caught the road and flipped him into the ditch. And the bike went up underneath the cop's car," Ward said. "The cop didn't have his lights on or nothing. He seen him coming and pulled out in front of him. He turned his lights on just right before my son hit him."
CBS19 could not independently confirm that the constable’s lights were off when his vehicle collided with Stanfield’s motorcycle. It was not clearly noted in incident reports obtained from the Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office, New Summerfield Police Department and Troup Police Department.
Body camera video from the scene of the crash explains how the collision happened.
"James saw him coming, pulled over there and came to a complete stop. Came to a complete stop. Just the way he is. He was completely stopped in time of collision. The guy leaned over and slid into him," officials on the body cam said.
Over two years after the chase, Beene was indicted Oct. 30, 2023. Rusk County Sheriff Johnwayne Valdez said Beene was booked into and later posted bond from the Rusk County Jail on Nov. 9.
CBS19's attempts to reach Beene in-person and over the phone were unsuccessful.
"He could've killed my son. Thank God that all it did messed up some vertebrae's in his back, nothing real serious. My son got real lucky," Ward said.
Susan didn’t know Beene faced criminal charges until learning about it from CBS19.
"That's awesome. He knew it. He knew what that was going to do. And just so luckily my son apparently had three or four lives left," Ward said.
Stanfield died two years later, in august 2023. He, his girlfriend, and their unborn child were killed in a motorcycle crash in Smith County.
He leaves behind a 3-year-old son and a 9-year-old daughter.
"I'm too angry to grieve. If I cry, it makes me mad. It's just consuming me. It really is. I miss everything about him."
Ward acknowledges her son’s criminal history, but she said he didn’t deserve to be hit head-on during a police chase.
"I know my son isn't innocent and he made mistakes and wrong decisions at the wrong time. But he didn't deserve that, Ward said.
Dr. Alex Del Carmen, associate dean and professor at Tarleton State University’s School of Criminology, said there is an expectation that the public has that those who enforce the law need to adhere to it.