🚨 Police Chase Captured on Patrol Car Camera | Tennessee, USA

On April 13,  what began as a routine traffic stop in Smithville, Tennessee, turned into a pursuit that would end with the death of Michael Dial.

The incident began when police attempted to stop Dial after discovering that he was driving with a suspended license. He was behind the wheel of a 1976 pickup truck towing a loaded trailer. Instead of stopping, Dial drove away, and officers began following him.

What followed was not the kind of high-speed chase often seen in police videos.

The pursuit moved from DeKalb County into neighboring White County, with reports indicating that speeds were generally around 30 to 50 miles per hour. As Dial continued along the roadway, police vehicles attempted to stop the pickup, including maneuvers that brought patrol cars into contact with his truck and trailer.

The patrol-car camera footage gives another perspective.

From farther back in the pursuit, the camera captures the rural Tennessee landscape as officers follow the pickup. The road winds through open countryside, while police vehicles continue closing in on Dial.

Then the situation takes a dramatic turn.

More action awaits in Part 2 👇 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhnhH_-BpgE

According to investigative reports, officers communicated that they were having difficulty stopping the vehicle. White County Sheriff Oddie Shoupe, who was not directly involved in the pursuit, ultimately gave an order authorizing the use of deadly force. A dispatcher relayed the instruction to deputies.

Moments later, deputies opened fire.

Michael Dial was struck and killed. Reports state that he was unarmed at the time of the shooting. It was later reported that officers could not determine which of the deputies' shots caused the fatal injury.

But the story did not end when the shooting stopped.

A body camera that had been left recording captured conversations after the incident. Those recordings included comments by Sheriff Shoupe about the decision to use deadly force and the damage to patrol vehicles. The recordings subsequently became a major part of the public controversy surrounding the case.

Dial's widow later filed a federal lawsuit against the sheriff and others, arguing that deadly force had been improperly authorized. At the same time, the district attorney who reviewed the shooting determined that the use of deadly force was justified, according to contemporary reporting.

Today, the patrol-car footage offers a visual record of those final moments of the pursuit — a rural Tennessee roadway, police vehicles closing in, and a chase that began with a suspended driver's license and ended in a fatal police shooting.

The footage doesn't show the entire story by itself. But when combined with dashcam recordings, body-camera video, dispatch communications and later investigations, it provides another perspective on one of Tennessee's most controversial police pursuits.

🚨 A routine traffic stop. A pursuit across two counties. A deadly decision — all captured from multiple police cameras.