Crash course: State Police chase teen over 100mph in urban area
The State Police muster unmarked vehicles in pursuit of speeders.FILE PHOTO BY HAWES SPENCER
When a BMW allegedly doing 67mph in a 45mph zone passed Trooper W.R. Floyd going northbound on Fifth Street around 3am July 3, the officer turned on his lights to pull over the culprit, the Daily Progress reports. But instead of pulling over, the pursued driver reportedly hits the pedal, speeds through a red light, turns right onto two-lane Elliott Avenue and onto Avon Street Extended at speeds at least 100mph, say police, before crashing around Arden Drive.
With Trooper Floyd still in hot pursuit, the driver flees on foot, so Floyd calls in a canine team and the Albemarle police to search, says Virginia State Police spokeswoman Corinne Geller.
Remington Scott McConnell, 18, was arrested at his Keswick home and charged with possession of alcohol, felony eluding police, reckless driving, and running a red light. He was released on $3,500 bond, and he will be back in court August 19.
Although the State Police may be best known for patrolling Interstate highways in search of dry-pavement speeders, Trooper Floyd had a right to monitor traffic with radar inside the Charlottesville city limits, according to spokesperson Geller.
"The Virginia State Police have statewide authority and can patrol/investigate anywhere in the Commonwealth," Geller says in an email.
Geller declined to provide a mugshot of the arrestee or a dashcam video of the chase, the former because the state police don't have one and the latter because it's part of an investigation, although in the past Geller has noted that it is State Police policy to routinely refuse to release videos even when investigations are closed.
Geller says she doesn't know how fast Trooper Floyd was going. But asked whether a 100-mile-per-hour chase violates any policies for urban streets, Geller says that State Police high-speed chase policy is standard, whether on interstates or within city limits. She says that factors in the decision to pursue include the seriousness of the violator's offense and its relationship to community safety, as well as the time, location and weather, pursuit speed, and other available means of apprehension, such as obtaining an arrest warrant for identified perps.
Last summer, 17-year-old Tsaye Simpson drove 85mph down Rugby Road with a Charlottesville officer in pursuit, and crashed into the roof of an occupied house at the end of Rugby. The incident provoked controversy because it took place along a residential street and appeared to violate a City policy.
In recent years, police pursuits have come under increased scrutiny, particularly because of the deadly toll they take on innocent bystanders, about three a week, according to watchdog group PursuitSafety. In January, the 39-year-old editor of the award-winning film The Fog of War died when struck by a fleeing van in New York. In March, a 44-year-old Richmond preacher died when hit by a police-pursued vehicle.
Pursuit supporters allege that if police don't chase, criminals will get away and that overall criminal activity may increase.
21 comments
Here's another senseless high speed cop shoppe pursuit resulting in the deaths of innocent bystanders. It was in June of 2009, two months prior to the above California case.
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PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Police in Philadelphia say two men with lengthy criminal records were fleeing police when they caused an accident in which a car jumped a curb, slammed into a crowd, and killed four people, including an infant two days short of her first birthday.
Philadelphia police say 18-year-old Donta Cradock and 20-year-old Ivan Rodriguez have been charged in the theft of a motorcycle that prompted the chase. Other charges are pending.
Police say the victims are 22-year-old Latoya Smith, her 11-month-old daughter, a 7-year-old girl and a 6-year-old girl. All three children were killed in Wednesday night's crash. Latoya Smith died Thursday.
The chase began with a report of two men stealing a motorcycle. One man fled on the motorcycle, the other in a car.
Police were pursuing the car when it crashed.
"left hand on a forty, puffin on a blunt"
"Pursuit supporters allege that if police don’t chase, criminals will get away and that overall criminal activity may increase."
At first I typed this long rant and decided that short was better...if the police didn't run these type of people down, just as they took out an innocent bystander "allegedly doing 67mph in a 45mph zone passed Trooper W.R. Floyd going northbound on Fifth Street around 3am July 3"...face people, you would be whining about that too! That's why we have legislators that write the laws and then give the police the power to enforce them....geeze...want your cake and eat it too!
whateva, is a peron going 67 mph in a 45 mph zone worth killing innocent bystanders over?
The next innocent person killed as the result of a high speed cop shoppe pursuit is going to be the father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter of somebody. That somebody could be you!
What was the alternative in this case? Run the license plate, call the owner (parents), and find out who was/is driving the car? Or is that too simple because it eliminates all the fun of being a cop and chasing somebody?
Even if it is a stolen car and the cop shoppe never finds out who was driving, which is worse? Losing a speeder, or having a high speed cop shoppe pursuit in which a van full of innocent children get killed in?
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Eight people were killed in a Central California police chase on Saturday afternoon. What started as a stop to investigate a reported stolen vehicle became a chase which ended when a Dodge Neon ran a stop sign and hit a pickup truck which was carrying five children to a youth football game. All five children were killed in the crash, along with the three people in the Neon. The children were Identified as Grace, Monique, Janie, Michael, Sienna, and Carlos Salazar. The parents, Carlos and Jennifer Salazar, are in critical condition at a hospital in Fresno.
Cop Shoppe pursuits don't always turn out real good for the rookies either. A cop was attempting to stop a motorcycle in Ohio recently. When the suspect finally stopped, the cop jumped out of his car and immediately shot the man in the back. Of course the cop had to justify his wrongful actions, "I was in fear for my life, I thought he had a gun!", the usual nonsense coverall excuse.
The cop was sentenced to 10 years in jail for shooting the guy in the back. The video very clearly showed the man did not have a gun, nor was he reaching for a gun or any other object.
gasbag,
where does it say that the trooper was going 100 mph or in any way endangering others?
"the officer turned on his lights...the pursued driver reportedly hits the pedal, speeds through a red light, turns right onto two-lane Elliott Avenue and onto Avon Street Extended at speeds at least 100mph, say police, before crashing around Arden Drive."
Sounds to me like the ONLY person endangering others was this keswick rich kid. I hope he gets punished to the full extent of the law as he clearly needs to be taught a lesson.
Gosh I looked in the Daily Progress and didn't find anything about this. They're focusing on the other rich brat gone amok.
He must have been on his way home from UVA orientation.
@retort "where does it say that the trooper was going 100 mph or in any way endangering others?"
ââ?¬Å?the officer turned on his lights”Šthe pursued driver reportedly hits the pedal, speeds through a red light, turns right onto two-lane Elliott Avenue and onto Avon Street Extended at speeds at least 100mph, say police, before crashing around Arden Drive.”
How long do you think the trooper could have kept the fleeing speeder in sight if he had not closely matched the speeder's speed? A few turns and roads, yes?
"whateva, is a peron going 67 mph in a 45 mph zone worth killing innocent bystanders over?"...Gas, agree with you on that (and I usually do) BUT...everyone is gonna roll back their heads and howl like hurt dogs either way...Now..."Run the license plate, call the owner (parents), and find out who was/is driving the car?"...while this MIGHT work, you know yourself that unless the cop can PROVE who was driving the car, it won't hold water in court...not to mention in this case "rich brat, alcohol, daddy's BMW...", daddy dearest is going to BUY this kid's way out of it...it's not just the car and the tag...but proof must be on the officer to prove who's driving...67 in a 45....don't think that won't kill a bystander too??? Just sayin...as I usually agree with you on most of you "coppe shoppe" analogies.
Sean...I would agree with you on that, but it was 3 am....so I would say frat party instead! LOL!
This IS the story about the son of the Daily Progress publisher who trashed his BMW M3 & who was also the subject of a prior 135MPH chase on I-64. The story has been well commented on in the NBC29 web site since July 4th. The "perp" is well known in his neighborhood as a car-crazy menace. I'm glad the Hook is covering this but its now relatively old news. "Spoiled Brat Runs From Law Authorities (Again) and Trashes Favorite Toy!"
Yay police.
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A job well done Trooper Floyd. You did your job. No one got hurt. The offender is under arrest. You did a good Trooper, thank you.
retort, I don't know how fast the trooper was going. But I can say this... if any cop shoppe car is going just 60 mph to 70 mph anywhere in the city limits, that's still too fast.
These 85+ mph to 100+ mph cop shoppe pursuits are eventually going to kill innocent bystanders in this city. That's the bottom line. It's too late for a cop shoppe car to stop when you don't see him or hear him. Blue lights are hard to see in daylight, and the sirens are hard to hear at any time when you have the windows up, air conditioning on, and a stereo playing.
Several years ago I came within an ace of tee-boning a Charlottesville cop who ran a stopsign while in pursuit. Yeah, he had his lights on, siren too for all I know, but it didn't matter since he just popped out from behind a house on that corner and I was right on top of him by then. I swerved to the right and went behind him by going up on the sidewalk and bending a rim. Cudda been a pedestrian there, but fortune said otherwise. Oblivious cop went on his way and I was left with a flat tire and some reflecting to do.
I've said this before, and as a former cop I know something about it. Once a speeding driver (usually a kid) panics and takes off and the officer begins pursuit, both of them are operating on a pre-logical reptilian mental level where one is prey, the other predator, and so it goes to the usual denoument of a crash. Too much at stake here; what is maybe OK on the freeway is not OK in an urban context.
Like father , like son. Recall that some years ago the DP publisher got charged with a DUI. To their credit they did run a story about it. Guess they were afraid of what other media might do.
How do you suppose this teenage driver got back home to Keswick (Glenmore) after he ran from his wrecked BMW in Charlottesville? Did he call a friend who then became an accomplice to his evasion of law enforcement? No wonder his peers are defending his behavior - they have been applauding and enabling his bad behavior. This event is NOT about police pursuit but IS about a well-known menace to his neighbors and the driving public. We should all be applauding the police who have taken this dangerous boy off our highways.
Before you start applauding too much there Paper Tiger, let's make sure you're actually speaking of the cops who were directly involved in chasing and arresting this guy. Because ya see, not all cops are alike. The son of a city police lt. crashed while driving under the influence one evening. After being arrested and placed in the cop shoppe car, he somehow escaped. He ran home on foot and the police Lt. hid him in the shower while the other cops were at the residence looking for the son.