Black Box In Stillwater Crash Suspect's Car To Provide Evidence

Stillwater Police are still gathering evidence, and one key could be the data recorder from Adacia Chambers' car.  

With a device similar to what mechanics use to diagnose problems in a car, investigators can download speed, braking, sometimes even steering information, the kind of details that could be very important to prosecutors.

At the crash scene, Stillwater Police use advanced traffic investigators to document the aftermath. But what they're really after is what happened just before the crash, just before police say Adacia Chamber's car hit barricades, a motorcycle and the crowd.

Police can find a valuable piece of information by looking under the seats - for the data recorder. Every car made in the last few years has one - with at least five seconds of memory before a crash. Tulsa Police Corporal Brian Collum says the data will tell a story that adds to what investigators gather at the scene and what they hear from witnesses.

"It'll show them if it's braking or not, speed right before the collision, things like that," said Corporal Brian Collum, Tulsa Police Department.

"It shows speed, acceleration, deceleration braking, things like that."

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Investigators can use the data to see what happened during part of the 6/10ths of a mile drive from the Freddy's restaurant to the crash site. The recorder will show the car's speed at every point of impact.

Coupled with video of the crash - investigators can recreate the final seconds of the crash. That's why investigators asked for video from the public - and why they'll be looking around the area for footage from businesses.

Corporal Collum said prosecutors are likely to get a detailed reconstruction of every impact on the car, so they'll have information for whatever kind of prosecution goes forward.

"We do all our investigations the same, that way everything is done properly, the same, whether it's one car, five cars, one victim, 10 victims - it doesn't matter," he said. "We do everything the same so we've covered all the bases, in case something comes up later."

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Black Box Report Sample