A debate that’s raged for decades and is still contentious today is whether or not police car chases are good policy. On the one hand you have people who argue if the cops don’t chase criminals as they flee, lawlessness eventually reigns supreme. On the other side are people who point to cases like this one in the Los Angeles area where a chase ended in a crash with an innocent driver who’s been hospitalized with serious injuries.
Armed robbers get the tables turned on them by a car thief.
You can see in KCAL footage at the crash site in Long Beach that the crash took out a traffic light pole right in front of a gas station. Also shown in the footage are the two mangled cars. It’s no wonder the innocent driver ended up in the ICU, although that person thankfully was expected to live.
This whole situation started when sheriff’s deputies spotted a Dodge Charger which had been reported stolen. After attempting to pull the car over in Compton, the suspect fled at high speed and deputies pursued.
Instead of some long chase like we see so often in the Los Angels area, the sheriff’s office says this one only lasted about two minutes. However, the devastation caused when the Charger slammed into the truck at an intersection will last far longer.
We expect some people will blame the cops for this crash. After all, had they just not chased the Mopar muscle car, the suspect would’ve slowed down, not blown through a red light and hit an innocent person, right?
Others will argue the suspect caused this crash, not deputies because any normal person pulls over when a police car turns on their lights. It’s all about perspective.
The big question is what kinds of long term consequences will the driver of the Charger face? Considering how lightly prosecutors in the county often go in these types of cases, it likely will be laughable.
Images via KCAL
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