Driver pleads guilty to chase that killed Grand Prairie police officer
GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - The 22-year-old driver who led police on a chase that killed a Grand Prairie officer last year pleaded guilty in court on Thursday.
Colbie Hoffman, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 12 years for evading arrest detention causing death and 10 years for tampering with evidence.
Colbie Hoffman
The sentences will be served concurrently.
In November 2022, Brandon Tsai died after crashing his police cruiser while attempting to pull Hoffman over for a fake paper license plate.
Officer Brandon Tsai
Hoffman escaped police, but was caught days later and arrested with Tsai's handcuffs.
"[Tsai] was a real good cop, came from Los Angeles with a lot of great experience," Grand Prairie Police Chief Daniel Scesney said.
The chase led to cries for a crackdown on fictitious paper plates in Texas.
'It cost a cop his life': Police chief rails against fake paper license plates in Texas
Grand Prairie's police chief called on Texas lawmakers to make changes following the death of an officer earlier this week.
Several bills filed in this legislative session look to change how temporary license plates are handled in the state.
The Texas House of Representatives unanimously passed House Bill 718 on Monday which would eliminate paper license plates in the state and move to a metal tag system like some other states use. A similar bill in the Senate is still in committee.
Even though the state overhauled features on the temporary paper tag, officers say criminals are still making fake ones.
The Grand Prairie police chief is hoping the loss of his officer can create change statewide.
"I think the paper tag is a problem in Texas of pandemic proportions," Scesney said.
Following the death of Tsai, Scesney has pushed to remove the use of paper tags in Texas.
Authorities across the state say the paper tags are too easy for criminals to duplicate and print out.
Fake tags have been connected to drugs, murders, and other crimes.
"If the politicians listen to the people who elected them, it’ll come out of the Senate," Scesney said.
Last year, the state updated the format of the temporary tag, including a QR code and other features to make it harder to duplicate.
Chief Scesney says the updates have not stopped criminals.
"Our traffic team gets them off the street every six minutes, keep in mind there’s more than that," he said. "I challenge you to find a single police officer in Texas who will tell you paper tags are not a problem."
It appears lawmakers on both sides are likely to pass some type of reforms when it comes to fake tags.
The session ends at the end of this month.