The Warrenton police officer involved in a March fatal accident that killed another driver was traveling between 87 and 99 mph, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash reconstruction report.

The officer, 24-year-old Kyle Smith, was responding March 14 to an emergency call when his patrol car collided with another vehicle that had turned into his path on Highway 47 at the intersection of Ash Road.

The other driver, Donald L. Wood, 59, of Warrenton, was killed in the crash.

Mathematically, the patrol report concluded that Smith’s vehicle speed was 87 mph. But the speed may have been higher based on sensing diagnostic modules in Smith’s police car that were reviewed by investigators.

The vehicle data said Smith was driving as fast as 99 mph 2.5 seconds and 93 mph 0.5 seconds before algorithm enable, the point where the vehicle’s system recognizes deceleration and begins the process of determining whether air bags should be deployed.

In contrast, Wood’s vehicle was going 9 mph as he was making the turn, according to the report.

The posted speed limit in the area where the crash occurred is 50 mph. Smith had his lights and sirens activated throughout his response upon leaving city hall after a call came in for a domestic disturbance.

Smith was fired in a May 4 closed meeting, after being placed on paid administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation.

He had been with the department for three years. He sustained minor injuries and was released from the hospital on the day of the crash.

The reconstruction report, including footage from the video cameras mounted inside Smith and a trailing police officer’s car, was obtained by The Record through a Sunshine Law request. At issue is whether Smith was speeding excessively while responding to the aid of another officer who had radioed for assistance after having trouble arresting a subject several blocks away from where the crash occurred.

No decision has been reached on whether criminal charges will be filed against Smith, according to Warren County Prosecuting Attorney Mike Wright. His review should be wrapped up within a couple of weeks.

“An official decision has not been made,” he said.

Currently, no lawsuits have been filed against the officer or the city. Mayor Greg Costello said previously the city had received two letters from lawyers representing Wood’s family that may lead to future litigation.

Keith Henson, a lawyer with the St. Louis-based firm of Paule, Camazine and Blumenthal, P.C., who has been retained to represent the city, declined comment on the case.

The patrol reported that Wood had stopped in the northbound lane and was turning onto Ash Road at 12:13 p.m. At the same time, Smith was northbound in the southbound lane, passing the line of stopped traffic and collided with Wood’s 2004 Pontiac Grand Am.

Wood was pronounced dead at 12:55 p.m. by coroner Roger Mauzy.

In the reconstruction report, the patrol noted that Wood’s vision may have been obstructed by two pickups directly behind him and that his hearing could have been affected if his car radio was on.

Measuring from the video, investigators said the left side of Wood’s vehicle was visible for at least 493 feet. The left turn signal is visible 174 feet from the area where the cars collided. At 99 mph, Smith was traveling 145 feet per second. At that speed, the accident was unavoidable, the report said.

The report also said Wood had the responsibility to yield to an emergency vehicle, but that a decision to respond to the oncoming police car “would have been influenced by his experience and expectations as he traveled north on” on Highway 47 and began to turn left onto Ash Road.

The patrol also noted that Smith had a responsibility to operate the vehicle “in a manner that did not endanger property or life.”

In a review of the police cruisers’ cameras, Smith sped away from the trailing officer less than a mile from the crash site when 911 dispatch directed him to “pick it up.”

The Warrenton Police Department’s policy for emergency situations states speeds for responses shall be restricted to 10 mph over the speed limit on city streets and 15 mph on all state-maintained roadways unless the responding officer can justify operating at a speed that exceeds these guidelines.

Wood was within a couple of miles of his home in the Ashland Meadows subdivision and was returning from Sunday church services at Warrenton Baptist Church.