CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio — The man accused of leading police officers on a chase across two cites before crashing and killing another driver appeared in Cleveland Heights Municipal Court on Friday.
Bond for Jalen Jackson was set at $1 million with a preliminary hearing scheduled for Dec. 13.
The victim’s friends were also in the courtroom to remember him.
For decades he worked as an emergency room doctor, saving lives. More recently, Dr. Curtis Birchall helped thousands of patients at his Rocky River Med Spa—The Fountain Clinic.
“[He was] a very nice, giving person,” said Noah Chen, who worked for the 70-year-old Birchall at the clinic. “He’d just go the extra mile to help people, especially like for my dad because my dad was sick and when the hospital gave up, he helped me. He told me what to do and I know that he help a lot of employee as well.”
A neighbor to Birchall’s clinic told 3News he was a wonderful person who to this day cared for his elderly father.
On Friday the clinic was locked up with a sign that read “temporarily closed due to death in the family”, as his former colleagues and employees attended the hearing for the man accused of taking Birchall’s life.
“He helped a lot of people throughout his lifetime,” former employee Jim Tasker said. “He will be sadly missed—not only by family, friends but everybody whose life he touched.”
Meanwhile, the 23-year-old Jackson is facing several charges, including aggravated murder, aggravated robbery, tampering with evidence, discharging a firearm, weapons under disability and a drug charge.
Prosecutors noted that prior to Wednesday's incident, Jackson had several open warrants for his arrest, including charges from Cleveland Municipal Court and Cuyahoga County.
Jackson is accused of robbing an Amazon driver at gunpoint Wednesday night and stealing the driver's van. The Amazon driver called it in, leading to a police pursuit. Cleveland Heights Police Chief Chris Britton said one of his officers reported hearing two shots fired as they pursued the white Enterprise van.
A helicopter from the Cleveland Division of Police assisted with the pursuit as it moved into the city.
CHPD said officers continued to pursue when the van turned into oncoming traffic on I-90 eastbound. The chief said speeds reached up to 100 mph. Not long after, the van slammed head on into a car, killing Birchall.
“It’s not like he got killed by disease or sickness, just by the car crash that shouldn’t even have happened,” Chen added.
After the crash, officers took Jackson into custody. Bodycam video revealed additional details about the pursuit.
3News' Bri Buckley and Tyler Carey contributed to this report.
Previous Reporting:
- Body camera video shows capture of man accused of leading Cleveland Heights police on deadly chase
- Suspect identified in chase involving Cleveland Heights police that ended in deadly crash on I-90
- Police: Pursuit of stolen Amazon van leads to crash on I-90 East in Cleveland; 1 dead, suspect in custody