The worst outcome possible in any police chase is that innocent bystanders are hurt, which was what happened back in October 2022 in Roseville, California. A truck theft suspect fleeing police in a Ford F-350 at a scorching 100 mph on city streets when he crossed into oncoming traffic, hitting a Toyota Solara head-on.
You won’t believe where a Florida man drove a stolen ambulance.
Three people were in that Toyota, including a four-year-old, and now they’re suing the police after suffering “extremely serious, near-fatal and life-altering injuries” says The Sacramento Bee.
You can see in images uploaded to X by Metro Fire of Sacramento that the Toyota Solara was badly damaged in the crash. As for the Ford Super Duty, it flipped multiple times, coming to rest against a nearby house. Actually, we should say what little was left of the truck came to rest against a house since it fared worse than the car.
What’s strange about this police pursuit, at least that’s what it’s being characterized as, is the claim that an officer was pursuing the suspect without turning on his cruiser’s lights and sirens. We’re not saying that didn’t happen because we weren’t there, but it seems odd that a cop would do something like that. We know it happens, just it’s a strange thing when it does and for obvious reasons.
According to The Sacramento Bee, the officer claimed to only be traveling at 50 mph, the speed limit on that stretch of road, and not matching the suspect’s speed of about 100 mph.
In the lawsuit, it’s alleged that the lack of lights and sirens didn’t serve to warn the public about the high-speed chase. Unless this case is settled out of court, it seems a jury and judge might have to decide if that contributed to the accident or not.
But there’s another layer to this case. The lawsuit claims the reason why the officer was pursuing the Ford F-350 was that an automatic plate reader pinged it for possibly being stolen. It goes on to claim that’s a violation of police department policy since plate readers can’t be the sole reason for making a traffic stop.
This case is yet another scrutinizing police chase policies and practices. It seems a lot of people fall into one of two major camps on this issue. One feels police pursuits are out of date and unnecessary, only putting the public at risk while cops try acting like movie heroes. The other feels that clamping restrictions on how police chase suspects will only encourage more criminal activity. Do you agree with either of these viewpoints? Let us know what you think.
Images via Metro Fire of Sacramento
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