A Philadelphia woman who survived a police chase through Delaware County This spring, which ended in a violent accident, he sued the Pennsylvania State Police officers involved in the chase, calling their actions unnecessary and unjustified.

Kemone Manning is joined in the lawsuit by the families of two people who died in the crash and a third person who was seriously injured.

Manning, 18, as well as the parents of Ka-Lyn Billups, Tyjana Motley and an unidentified minor, filed a wrongful death lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Philadelphia. soldiers They were chasing a Ford Taurus in which the four of them, as well as three other people, were traveling there after fleeing a traffic stop in Concord Township in April.

At the time, investigators said they believed one of the car’s occupants was connected to a robbery incident at a nearby shopping center. Troopers also said the vehicle’s inspection had expired and its temporary license plate was illegally obscured by a tinted bracket.

David Inscho, the attorney who filed the lawsuit, said Wednesday that the deaths and serious injuries caused by the crash should never have happened.

“This tragic accident occurred due to an unexcused stop for an alleged equipment violation, and resulted in a reckless and ultimately deadly chase through Delaware County in the middle of the day, exposing our customers and many other people to unnecessary danger. said.

A state police spokesman declined to comment Wednesday on the pending litigation.

Billups, 21, and Motley, 17, died April 24 when Isaiah Miller lost control of the Ford Taurus the group was traveling in on Route 322 in Boothwyn. Miller, 20, and front-seat passenger Ikeam Rogers, 20, also died in the crash. Motley was pregnant at the time and her unborn child did not survive an emergency cesarean section, according to the lawsuit.

Manning, Bishop Young, 20, and the child survived the crash and were hospitalized for serious injuries, including burns, broken bones and traumatic brain injuries, according to the lawsuit.

At the time of the crash, state police officials said troopers had attempted to stop the group after seeing them at the Brinton Lake shopping center in Concord Township. A state police spokesman said a member of the group (he did not specify which one) matched the description of a suspect from a previous shoplifting incident at a Lululemon store there.

According to the lawsuit, Trooper Daniel Sgambato, parked at the shopping center in an unmarked vehicle, attempted to stop the Taurus.

Miller, the driver, sped away from the stop, leading Sgambato and Trooper Jason Eckman on a five-minute, seven-mile chase. During the chase, Miller drove into the rush-hour traffic jam and illegally turned against the flow of traffic, according to the lawsuit.

Inscho, the attorney, said the officers should have recognized that the “low danger” of allowing Miller to flee a stop for vehicle problems did not outweigh the “high danger” of the reckless driving he used to avoid them.

Officers had other options, including using the vehicle’s license plate to track its owner and directing the vehicle in the direction of another officer in the area who was ready to deploy spike strips to disable the Taurus, according to the lawsuit.

The filing also calls for a review of state police chase policies, citing a similar chase a few months earlier.

In that incident, four people allegedly stole $5,000 worth of merchandise from the same Lululemon store. The police chased the group, all from Philadelphia, to I-95, where they hit the car and disabled it. No one was injured in the collision and the occupants of the car have pending criminal cases for receiving stolen property and related crimes.

Speaking about the April incident, Inscho said: “We represent two families who have lost children and two others who are seriously injured and whose lives will be altered by this. “We want to hold the state police accountable and make sure this doesn’t happen again.”