Jury hears from widow, watches dash cam video of deadly Stamford police crash that killed pastor
Former Stamford police officer Zachary Lockwood is charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle for an on-duty crash that left Rev. Tommie Jackson dead in July 2023.
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The trial of a former Stamford police officer charged in an on-duty crash that killed a local pastor began Thursday morning with the pastor’s widow on the stand.
Dorye Jackson was the first witness that the prosecution called in its case against Zachary Lockwood. Lockwood is charged with misconduct with a motor vehicle in the death of Rev. Tommie Jackson. At the center of this case is whether Lockwood was criminally negligent in a crash that occurred on July 26, 2023, on Wire Mill Road in Stamford.
Dorye Jackson told the jury her husband always got the mail from their mailbox across the street. She says he was doing just that on the afternoon he lost his life.
“I was sitting at the window at my couch, and I heard a loud thump,” Dorye Jackson testified. “I went to the front door, and I went outside and I saw a body lying in the street. And then I ran out there and I saw a police officer.”
Dorye Jackson recalled how that officer was Lockwood and she implored him to help the person who was down before she realized what happened. She says once she got closer, she saw it was her husband on the ground.
“I was touching his throat to find out if there was pulse, and I didn’t feel a pulse,” she told the court. “I kept on touching him, and I tried to press on his chest to see if I could tell if he was alive.”
“And did you get any response at all?” asked Milford State’s Attorney Margaret Kelley.
“No, I did not,” Dorye Jackson responded, telling the jury she never spoke to her husband again.
Tommie Jackson was 69 years old.
The crash was investigated by Connecticut State Police due to it involving a Stamford officer. Detective Corey Clabby, of CSP, led that investigation and was the state’s second witness.
Clabby testified that the weather was “beautiful” that day and conditions were dry. He also said the speed limit on the curvy, residential road is 25 mph.
Lockwood had been responding to a minor crash elsewhere in the city at the time and was instructed by the dispatcher to use “Code 1,” a non-emergency response, according to his arrest warrant.
Sgt. Richard Barbagallo, who was the patrol supervisor at the time, told the jury that Code 1 means officers should travel with traffic and not use their lights and sirens. Barbagallo testified he didn’t tell Lockwood to increase his response to “Code 2” or “Code 3,” which Lockwood is accused of doing.
On cross-examination by Lockwood’s attorney, Michael Fitzpatrick, Barbagallo conceded that officers have the authority to upgrade the level of response.
The jury then watched dash camera video from Lockwood’s police cruiser showing Lockwood speeding to that call.
On it, Lockwood is heard telling another officer he’s going "Code 3," the most immediate emergency response with lights and sirens, according to the warrant.
"Oh damn, don't go ‘Code 3,’ go ‘Code 2,’" the other officer said.
Code 2 calls for lights and sirens only when going through intersections.
The video showed Lockwood was going 65 mph right before he hit Tommie Jackson and 46 mph at the time of impact.
“I just hit someone, dude. I just hit someone,” Lockwood is heard saying on the video.
The footage also captured Dorye Jackson running up to him.
“Oh my God, what road are we on? What road are we on?” Lockwood asks her before calling in a “Code 3.”
Dorye Jackson is heard in the footage calling her husband’s name.
Lockwood wiped tears from his eyes as the video played.
Tommie Jackson’s family members left the courtroom ahead of time so they didn't have to watch the footage.
The family’s attorney, Darnell Crosland, spoke with News 12 outside the courthouse and said, “This family has not been the same since the day this happened. And so today won't bring Tommie back, but it's the first day towards getting some closure to this case.”
Though the crash occurred in Stamford, the case was transferred to Milford to avoid any potential conflicts of interest with the Stamford State’s Attorney’s Office. Crosland had filed a motion to have the case moved to Bridgeport over concerns about the lack of racial diversity in the Milford jury pool, but the motion was denied.
The jury of six hearing the case against Lockwood is made up of five white men and one Black woman. There are also two alternates.
Lockwood opted to go to trial after turning down a plea offer that called for him to serve two years in prison and included the condition that he can’t be recertified as a police officer.
He lost his job with the Stamford police department following an internal investigation into the crash.
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