Questions Remain in Death of Durham Police Officer

Durham, N.C. — Authorities have released more details of a wreck that claimed the life of a Durham police officer, but they have not been able to determine the cause.

According to investigators, Officer Charles Callemyn was driving west on Holloway Street early Saturday morning when something caused him to swerve abruptly to the left and head into the eastbound lanes. Authorities said the police cruiser started to slide and turn clockwise into the westbound lanes.

Investigators said the cruiser then hit a concrete bridge pillar, killing Callemyn instantly. The initial investigation suggests Callemyn's cruiser was going approximately 60 miles an hour when the accident occurred.

Durham police said the cruiser's in-car camera was working earlier in the evening, but failed to work at the time the incident occurred.

A representative with the company that manufactured the camera has been unable to retrieve any data or determine if the camera malfunctioned.

Durham police said Callemyn had not been in any prior vehicle accidents as a Durham officer and had a clean driving record.

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Latest Comments

I totally agree. Too many people are dying young. I pray for the family of all the victims we have read about recently. The familys that are suffering because the accused are getting off easy, and the families of some of the criminals because they did nothing wrong and people are still ridiculing them.

latanya512
February 21, 2007 4:54 p.m.

praying for the family.

kr
February 21, 2007 3:43 p.m.

My prayers are with the family and friends in the loss of this man they loved.

this is my Screen Name
February 21, 2007 3:39 p.m.

I currently have an in car camera in my patrol vehicle. I have had more problems with the peice of crap than I care to deal with. I doesn't work most of the time. I have taken the camera in several times and it still needs repair. At one point I had to have a brand new system installed to replace the old one. Now with this new camera that I have it will just start recording w/out doing anything. Sometimes it will not record when I need it too. They are not worth the money and they are not reliable.

narck9
February 21, 2007 3:35 p.m.

I used to install those in-car camera systems for WCSO, they are always recording, but like a DVR they don't save all the information. They begin to record 30 sec before the Bar lights are turned on, or when the siren is activated. They can be set to record all the time, but not all of them do. Some even record when the airbags are deployed, but not all are setup to do that. If the siren was never activated, or the lights not turned on, the system may have never saved the incident on the HDD. They always seem to work when someone is being pulled because that's what they're designed to do.

LifeAsASuffix
February 21, 2007 3:24 p.m.