Another Atlanta Police Chase Case With Fatalities

Just a few weeks ago we blogged about the dangerous nature of police chase cases. See Blog entry entitled High Speed Police Chase Cases: An American Tragedy (2/15/07). Today we wake up with a headline in the Atlanta paper stating that “Two teens are dead and four others injured in a police chase case involving a juvenile that was driving a stolen vehicle.” According to the newspaper report of this incident, police in Clayton County, just outside of Atlanta, pulled over a joyriding juvenile who was in the process of providing a driver’s license to the investigating officer when word came over the police radio that the vehicle the teen was driving was stolen. The teenager took off and the police began to chase. Even though the police had obtained proof of the identify of the juvenile and knew that the only offense in question was a non-violent theft of a motor vehicle, according to the newspaper article, this chase lasted for over four (4) miles. As is so often the case in these dangerous pursuits, the juvenile driver lost control of his vehicle during the chase and crashed head on into several trees off the side of the road. The result: all too predictable. Two were killed and four others seriously injured.
As a result of this tragic situation, we see the same pattern emerge that we have seen in far too many cases. The police decide to chase for a non-violent felony and people are seriously injured and died. Why? Here, because of a stolen vehicle. The question, of course, is whether it was all worth it. We have two young people dead and four others seriously injured with thousands and thousands of dollars in medical expenses expected not to mention the tragedy and devastation sustained by the families of the deceased.
Of course, no one can defend the right of the juvenile suspect in fleeing from the police. The teenager should have cooperated with the police. And yet, past experience indicates that juveniles often flee for a variety of reasons, most predictably fear. Because they are young and inexperienced and afraid of the police, juveniles oftentimes do stupid things. Here, it is not likely that the juveniles would have killed themselves or anyone else had the police not chased them so furiously over four miles. If a chase lasts for any period of time at high speeds, particularly where a juvenile is involved, past experience indicates over and over and over again that there will almost certainly be tragic results.
When will the police learn that the price to the public is too great to continue in these ill-advised high speed police chases.? Yes: we want the criminals caught and prosecuted. But No: we do not want to inflict the death penalty or life sentences on either the public or those involved. While the juvenile that was driving paid the price with his life, his passengers were not driving and yet they have paid the price too. One of them is dead and four others are seriously injured. We hardly think it was worth it. Moreover, as we advanced in our earlier blog, we have three other cases with very similar facts and once again, we are confronted with the same troubling question that also appears in the other Georgia cases we are handling on behalf of other families devastated by these chases. Was the chase for a non-violent offense worth it? We think not.