LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — A woman hit by a motorcyclist during a high-speed chase with Clark County School District police is suing them, the school district, and an officer, claiming she was seriously hurt.
The crash happened on Aug. 9, 2021, in North Las Vegas. Yet in the lawsuit filed last week in Clark County District Court, Kimberly Knudsen lays blame at the feet of a CCSD police officer for not following his own agency’s procedures.
Bodycam footage 8 News Now obtained shows the aftermath of the crash, which occurred at the intersection of Simmons and Lone Mountain.
The video captures Robert Smith sitting on top of the motorcycle handcuffed.
It also shows medical personnel tending to Kimberly Knudsen.
“Yeah, I just needed to walk it off apparently,” Knudsen is heard saying.
The officer who is speaking in the bodycam video is CCSDPD Sgt. Michael Campbell, who is the target of Knudsen’s lawsuit.
“Is that your firearm?” Sgt. Campbell asked Robert Smith.
“Yes sir,” Smith responded.
“You purchased it?”
“Yes sir,” Smith said.
The lawsuit alleges Sgt. Campbell was in a high-speed traffic pursuit chasing after Smith, when Smith “failed to obey the traffic signal and proceeded into the intersection, failing to yield the right of way, and struck the left driver’s side,” of Knudsen’s vehicle.
Robert Smith sitting handcuffed on motorcycle after high-speed chase with CCSDPD on Aug. 9, 2021. (Courtesy of CCSDPD) 
Robert Smith sitting handcuffed on motorcycle after high-speed chase with CCSDPD on Aug. 9, 2021. (Courtesy of CCSDPD) 
Kimberly Anne Knudsen after she was hit by a motorcycle during a high-speed chase with CCSDPD Sgt. Michael Campbell on Aug, 9, 2021 (Courtesy CCSDPD)
The video shows the dent Smith made on Knudsen’s car.
“We’ll need your driver’s license, registration, and insurance,” Sgt. Campbell said to Knudsen. “Do you want to go on the passenger side? Would that be easier?”
“No, I have some stuff over there,” Knudsen said.
Medical personnel eventually leaves and Knudsen gets in her car.
According to court documents, Knudsen suffered “serious bodily injuries and emotional distress as a result of the subject incident.”
Furthermore, Knudsen outlines in the lawsuit that she’s seeking $15,000 and claims Sgt. Campbell violated CCSDPD’s “aforementioned policies and procedures at the time of the collision.”
CCSD and CCSDPD are both included in Knudsen’s lawsuit.
Robert Smith, who was arrested on that day, entered a plea agreement for reckless driving and resisting an officer last year, avoiding a lengthy prison sentence.
CCSD has a policy of not responding to pending litigation.
However in a statement to 8 News Now, the Clark County Police Officer’s Association stated:
“The POA believes Sergeant Campbell was acting within the confines of NRS and department policy. He will receive legal coverage from CCSD and or the POA if necessary. He should be removed from the lawsuit and face no liability.”
Knudsen’s attorney did not respond to a request for comment.
