Philadelphia patrol cars in a file photo. Read more Alejandro A. Alvarez / Staff Photographer

by Chris Palmer Published Dec. 8, 2025, 2:53 p.m. ET

Two Philadelphia police officers who drove after a fleeing drug suspect until the man crashed his car and killed a bystander cannot be sued for causing the fatal collision because the officers didn’t intend to harm anyone, a federal appeals court ruled.

In an opinion issued last week, the three-judge panel from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals said the officers, Christian Kane and Alexander Hernandez, were forced to make a quick decision in 2020 when they sped after a man they’d seen dealing drugs in Kensington .

The pursuit of the suspect, Tahir Ellison, proceeded at a normal speed for a few blocks, court documents said, bu

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