Kristie's Law

"A high-speed chase is one of the few times when police officers will knowingly put the lives of innocent civilians at risk." --Capt. Travis Yates, Tulsa, OK., Police Department, CNN report, July 27, 2005

"Catching up," "following," & "pursuing" — terms used to justify the killing of innocent bystanders — all have had the same deadly consequences. The physical chase lasts an average of 2.5 minutes.
Another Reality: Pursuits begIn before the physical chase, as evidenced by 3-year-old Talmin's story.

To negate or justify deaths to law-abiding people, law enforcement officials can say to the media, and through them to us, these statements:

"The pursuit just got started or just ended."
"We were not chasing; we were 'following' or 'catching up' to the suspect."
"The pursuit was not high-speed." If the pursuit was not high-speed that means low-speed chases kill?
"We were backing off."
Officers back off when they turn off their lights and sirens, turn around, and drive away in the opposite direction of the suspect. Backing off is most successful when it is done immediately. It is too late to back off when the pursuit is approaching a school zone, begins on busy streets, or the known driver is a flight risk, e.g., parolee, car thief. When officers follow (even at a low speed) the drivers believe they are still being pursued ... and they are being pursued.
Popular link: Some of the "Police Chases that Weren't" are right here.

Sacrificed ... and the death count continues to climb.
Remember the U.S. Supreme Court ruling? Read commentary.

Alabama

Study Alaska's Pursuit Practices

Study Arizona's Pursuit Practices


Trooper Mark W. Carthron, 31, West Memphis, Arkansas September 15, 2005

Study Arkansas' Pursuit Practices

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California

December 2007

A second California police chase for a stolen car
leads to the death of two more innocent victims
San Francisco: Killed in the Dec. 11 crash were innocent bystanders Kristopher Bratt, 20, of Novato, and another man in Bratt's Chevrolet Cavalier, Alfonso Felipe Cortez, 36. Kristopher had been working as a laborer for Redwood Engineering in Tiburon. Authorities were unable to provide a hometown for Alfonso, saying only that he lived in the East Bay. Comment: A driver in a stolen car is a known flight risk. I would not expect the driver to pull over appropriately on a busy street with traffic controlled intersections, and the number of innocent bystanders killed because of chases for stolen cars indicates this to be true. — Candy Priano

Blameless Man and woman killed in California chase
Modesto: A woman critically injured Sunday, Dec. 9, 2007, in a head-on collision north of Modesto died Dec. 10, becoming the third person killed in the wreck. Heather Miller, 40, of San Leandro died at Memorial Medical Center in Modesto, authorities said. She was a passenger in a car that investigators said was hit head-on by a stolen sport utility vehicle whose driver was trying to evade Stanislaus County sheriff's deputies. Sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Royjindar Singh released the identities of the two men killed in the crash. They are Steven Jackson, 53, of Modesto, who was driving the car in which Miller was a passenger and Brandon Ellis, 20, of Riverbank, a passenger in the SUV. The men died Sunday of blunt-force trauma, Singh said. The crash was on Claribel Road between Coffee and Oakdale during heavy traffic on Sunday.

July 2007

Fallen officer, CHP Officer Douglas "Scott" Russell, 46, is honored
Memorial bell rung for CHP vet; suspect was jailed in '92 for fleeing cops and fled again in December 5, 2006. Story in the Sacramento Bee. Date of pursuit: July 31, 2007.

June 2007

Miguel Castro Falcon, father of three, killed June 27, 2007

Los Angeles Sheriff's department chased suspects in a stolen car.

Los Angeles Sheriff's department policy does not allow chases for stolen car offences.

April 2007

Edgar Garcia Torres, 22, San Francisco, April 19

John Avery, 57, San Francisco, April 16

April 15, 2007
Steven Aveles, 20, Upland	A burglary in Yucaipa turned into a highway chase that caused the death of an innocent Upland man early Sunday morning. The Yucaipa Sheriff Station responded to the burglary and were in pursuit of a driver of a 2007 Dodge Charger who was fleeing the scene of an attempted burglary. The chase began on surface streets at 12th Street and Avenue D in Yucaipa and ended on Interstate 10 at Ford Street. The Charger, which had entered the freeway headed west in the eastbound lanes, crashed head-on into a 1999 Honda Civic killing 20-year-old Steven Aveles of Upland, a passenger in the Honda, and critically injuring the driver, whose name was withheld. The driver of the Civic, a 20-year-old La Puente man, was taken to Loma Linda University Medical Center, according to the California Highway Patrol.

Daniel Dawson, 36, Bakersfield, April 7, 2007

Family mourns death of family man killed in police pursuit, KGET.com

Daniel Dawson, 36, was hit and killed while waiting at a stop light.

"I miss his laugh and he was an incredible singer," said Paul Reed, Dawson's brother-in-law, "and I miss that. I heard a church song this morning that he sang, and I could hear him singing it. I will always miss that."

Police said the man who hit Dawson—Brian Marling—s a known gang member and when police tried to issue a search warrant at his home, Marling fled.

February 2007
Monica Lucky, 41, resides in Stockton, February 11, 2007

Acting Oakland PD Traffic Sergeant Vincent Fratangelo said, "No. No chase was involved in this one." Yet, witness Amy Badore said, "I saw a police car following with its sirens and lights on."

January 20, 2007
*Brandon Harper,* 26, Santa Maria	Brandon Louis Harper was on his way to get a Jumbo Jack at 10:00 p.m., when a 20-year-old boy being pursued by the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department, hit Brandon's car at 87 miles an hour. t the Sheriffs were pursuing the 20-year-old on two of the busiest streets in our city brought me to a new awareness about the tragedy that surrounds high speed pursuits.	Santa Barbara Sheriff's officers were pursuing the 20-year-old suspected DUI on two of the busiest street in Santa Maria.

November 2006

Rosanna Garcia, 20, Whittier, Nov. 25

October 2006

Kathryn "Katie" Bogosian-Langley, 25, Paradise, Oct. 26
Paradise/Magalia—Kathryn, an innocent victim of pursuit, leaves behind a 4-year-old son and loving husband. The driver who fled was in-and-out of our courts and jails too many times. Our criminal justice system failed the Bogosian-Langley family. And, Katie was not protected when the chase began for a known suspect who had said, "I will do anything to avoid going back to prison." Did the officers really believe this suspect would pull over appropriately on a busy street? -- Candy Priano

September 2006

Rodrigo Vega, 38, Carlsbad, Sept. 5

Uninvolved motorist killed in police pursuit
North County Times,?A? September 6, 2006
CARLSBAD—A San Marcos man was thrown from his pickup and suffered fatal injuries when the vehicle was hit by a suspected car thief who was believed to be ...

Police pursuit ends in death of bystander
San Diego Union Tribune - September 5, 2006
CARLSBAD—A San Marcos man was killed Tuesday morning when a car being pursued by police smashed into the side of his pickup truck and knocked him from the ...

Quadriplegic sues SFPD over injuries
San Francisco Chronicle: The complaint also says that SFPD conspired to omit their involvement in the collision report.

July 2006

Officer Nick Birco, 39,
a five-year department veteran who worked at the Bayview station
sfgate.com - July 26 , 2006

San Francisco Police Officer Killed In chase
CBS 5 - San Francisco - July 26, 2006
A San Francisco police officer died early this morning after a vehicle collision during a police chase, ... The identity of the officer is being withheld pending notification of his family. He worked at Bayview station.

The Officer Down Memorial Page Remembers . . . Officer Nick Birco

KTVU.com

Date of Crash: June 30, 2006; Date of Death: July 2, 2006
Halley Simone Lee, 9 months old	Precious, little Halley Simone Lee died, after suffering massive brain injuries June 30, 2006, when her mother's car was hit by a vehicle whose driver was being pursued for a suspected DUI by Alameda County Sheriff's deputies. Baby seriously injured after high speed chase San Francisco Chronicle; July 1, 2006 Hayward — A 9-month-old girl is in critical condition this morning after a man allegedly running from Alameda County Sheriff's deputies ...	*Infant In Crash Brain Dead* July 3 - BCN - A 9-month-old Hayward girl who was critically injured Friday night in a car crash in Hayward was pronounced brain dead at 4 p.m. Sunday at Oakland Children's Hospital, according to Alameda County Sheriff's Sgt. Scott Dudek. The infant, Halley Simone Lee, is being kept alive at the hospital with the help of machines. Lee's family has not decided whether they will keep the girl attached to the machines, Dudek said. Niven Singh, the man who allegedly hit the car Lee was in while fleeing from Alameda County sheriff's deputies, was arraigned today in Alameda County Superior Court on murder and other charges.

May 2006

Salvador Nieves Jr., 21 (below, left), May 27, 2006
Jessica Castaneda-Rodriguez, 25, May 27, 2006

Undercurrents: Two More Innocent Bystanders Die in High Speed Chase
Berkeley Daily Planet, by J. Douglas Allen-Taylor — June 2, 2006
Commentary: Reporter J. Douglas Allen-Taylor does his job, and he does it very well. Here we go again; looks like there's a mandate to keep the numbers low for innocent victims of pursuit in California.

From Allen-Taylor's column: ... Reporting on the first court appearance of 33-year-old Oakland resident Amiri Bolten, Oakland Tribune staff members Harry Harris and Kristin Bender write in Thursday's paper that "Bolten's 1988 Chevrolet van . . . first attracted the attention of police near the intersection of 73rd and Ney avenues about 9:20 p.m. Saturday because it was blaring loud music. Officers stopped the van and while walking up to it smelled marijuana inside, said Traffic Officer Jeff Thomason."

Thomason, it should be noted, was not one of the officers involved in the incident; he's just the one who talked with the reporters. The Tribune account goes on to say that after the officers walked up to the van "without warning, the van sped off and officers pursued it, radioing to other officers and supervisors that they were in a chase." According to the Tribune account, Bolten sped up 73rd Avenue to MacArthur with the police following some blocks behind, turned right, and then roared through a red light at 90th and MacArthur, hitting a Nissan Sentra driven by 25-year-old Jessica Castaneda-Rodriguez of Oakland. Castaneda-Rodriguez was killed in the crash, along with a passenger, 21-year-old Salvador Nieves Jr., also of Oakland. A second passenger, a 24-year-old San Leandro woman, was hospitalized in critical condition.

The Thursday Tribune report said that Bolten was captured trying to run away from the accident scene, and that officers "found marijuana in the van." The paper reported that Bolten has been charged by the Alameda County District Attorney's office with "vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence, one count of evading police causing injury or death, hit and run, and a parole violation."

But not DUI or possession of marijuana? Even though that was the underlying offense which was supposed to have triggered the pursuit in the first place? An interesting omission, but perhaps that was an oversight, either by the DA's office, or by the reporters, to be corrected as we go on.

In any event, the Harris-Bender Thursday morning Tribune account of the chase and accident were slightly different from those printed in the Tribune on the previous Monday, this one attributed to Tribune "staff reports."

In the Monday story, the Tribune said that "Strategic Area Command officers were in the vicinity of 73rd and Ney avenues about 9:20 p.m. Saturday when they saw a full-size 1988 Chevrolet van involved in "sideshow activities, which can include reckless driving, people hanging out of car doors and doing donuts in the street."

This is an interesting way to characterize the initial circumstances, don't you think? The Tribune "staff reporters" don't actually say that the Chevrolet van was doing "reckless driving [with] people hanging out of car doors and doing 'donuts' in the street." In fact, it doesn't even say that such activity was going on in the vicinity at the time the police stopped the Chevrolet van. Why, then, one wonders, did the Tribune include the reckless driving, etc., in the original story? Was it actually going on at the time at 73rd and Ney, or did they just add it, for "color"? Perhaps the good folks at the Tribune will someday explain.

Three other items are notable in the original Tribune story. The article says that "police said Bolten appeared under the influence of alcohol while driving," but does not mention any marijuana. It also says that "the names of the officers chasing Bolten were not released," although it doesn't say why this should be.

Why is the marijuana important to this story, both its absence in the original Tribune account, and its addition later?

Without the "smell of marijuana" from Bolten's van, what we are left with is Strategic Area Command officers riding through what the Oakland Police Department officially calls the "sideshow zone," stopping a car because of "blaring loud music," and then chasing it after the driver ran away. If this was the case, then two innocent young people are dead and another is in critical condition in the hospital because the City of Oakland has decided that "blaring loud music" is a serious offense. At least, it is in the sideshow zones of East Oakland. ...

April 2006

Lisa Rosas

Innocent Lisa Rosas, 17, died and her passenger, 22-month-old Katrina Martinez, is being treated at a Madera hospital. Little Katrina is paralyzed as a result of neck and spinal cord injuries.

No pursuit probe planned
The Bakersfield Californian - By Gretchen Wenner - April 10, 2006
Bakersfield's police chief said Monday the department won't formally investigate whether officers appropriately followed pursuit policies last Friday, when a high-speed chase led to the death of a 17-year-old girl and seriously injured a toddler -- both uninvolved.
Commentary: It is so shocking that California's State Law denies innocent victims of pursuit and their families the right to discovery in a Court of Law, so families can find out whether or not the officers involved the chase followed their pursuit policy. Add to this, innocent victims are also denied independent reviews of these deadly chases. In California, if there is a review, typically the review board is made up entirely of members of law enforcement, and in some cases, members from the same L.E. agency involved in the pursuit review these chases. So, there is no outside review.

Family mourns teen's death in police chase
The Bakersfield Californian - By Gretchen Wenner and Tim Kupsick - April 8, 2006
You may be required to register to read the full story at the above link. Registration is very easy.

From the above story: "It just couldn't be my baby," Ana Robledo thought Friday night. But she saw the car: her daughter's Geo Prism, which moments earlier had been hit by a fleeing suspect and a police car during a high-speed chase in east Bakersfield.

The pursuit through a residential area that led to the death of an innocent bystander in another car was within departmental policy and won't be investigated, a Bakersfield police spokesman said Saturday.

Robledo's 17-year-old daughter, Lisa A. Rosas, a senior at Foothill High School, was killed Friday when a man driving a stolen Chevrolet Suburban crashed into her Geo Prism head-on.

"I just don't understand why they didn't let him go," she said, referring to the man in the stolen Suburban, which was equipped with a satellite tracking system. "I just want to know the truth about what happened, because there are so many stories."

Cleora Chrisman, 67, Oakland
sfgate.com - April 12, 2006

Google Cleora Chrisman

Victims not identified in fatal Oakland police chase
The MercuryNews.com - Bay City News Service - April 8, 2006

From the above story: The Escalade she allegedly drove was reported stolen, Rullamas said. He said his division would pass the car's information on to the robbery division to see if it matches with the suspect vehicle in Thursday's robberies. `It certainly matched the appearance,'' he said.

The dead woman has been identified, Rullamas said, but her next of kin has not yet been located. She is a 67-year-old woman from Oakland.

Rullamas said he does not yet know what charges the suspect will face. `I'm going to meet with the DA's office Monday and see what, exactly, they would be interested in charging her with,'' he said. He said he is not intimately familiar with her condition, and that there is a chance she may not survive.

Two Hurt After Oakland High-Speed Chase
abc7news.com - San Francisco, CA - April 7, 2006
At least two people are seriously hurt after a high-speed pursuit in Oakland. Police were chasing the driver of a black ... Police have not said what sparked the police chase.

March 2006

Crash During Pursuit Kills Unborn Child

A Long Beach woman's unborn child was killed and she was critically injured Thursday when a man fleeing police crashed into the car in which she was riding in Garden Grove. Sully Portillo, 22, who was seven months' pregnant, was taken to UCI Medical Center in Orange with trauma to the chest area and knee. Her 22-year-old fiance, Anthony Moore, who was also taken there, was stable with injuries to the wrist, knee and abdomen.

February 2006

Asatur Tokatlyan, 42, Los Angeles, Feb. 23
Asatur died en route to the hospital, said Kevin Maiberger of the Los Angeles Police
Department. Tokatlyan lived in Hollywood with his wife and two children.

January 2006

Dateline January 14, 2006:
Two chases = 4 more innocent victims of pursuit killed in California since the New Year.

With these two pursuit crashes and other chases where the fleeing suspects were killed, January's reported death total is 7 (Source: Google Alert news stories). Note: The Kristie's Law Web site lists the names of innocent victims of pursuit and the names of officers killed in pursuits.

The three news stories between these lines cover the same chase

Suspect charged in traffic deaths
OCRegister - Orange County, CA January 18, 2006
An Anaheim man suspected of leading police on a car chase that ended in the deaths of three people was charged with murder Tuesday.

Commentary: A quote from the above story: "... suspected of leading police on a car chase..."?aises a red flag about what law enforcement agencies don't tell the media. Either it was a police chase or it was not a police chase. Keep in mind that police vehicular pursuits begin well before the actual physical chase. It begins before officers "light up" a suspect. That's when officers need to determine whether or not they will chase a suspect, if the driver does not pull over appropriately.

From police pursuit expert, Dr. Geoffrey Alpert: Officers need to ask the following three questions before they attempt to pull over anyone:

If the pursuit were to result in injury or death, would a reasonable person understand why the pursuit occurred or was necessary?
Is the need to immediately catch the suspect more important than the risk created by the pursuit?
Do the dangers created by the pursuit exceed the dangers posed by letting the perpetrator escape?

On a statewide level, this story about the deaths of three innocent victims, along with the lack of media coverage of the 3-year-old boy who was?illed in a Pasadena pursuit in December, concerns me because pursuit deaths are already under-reported, which means not all fatalities by pursuit are reported to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It is important to share this new information about these recent chases. My fear is that deaths to innocent victims of pursuit will be summarily dismissed as traffic "accidents" in an attempt by law enforcement officials to keep the fatalities resulting from pursuit crashes low.?

Three Dead, Two Hurt After Police Chase
abc7.com - Los Angeles, CA January 14, 2006
ANAHEIM - A van driven by a man fleeing police collided with a Toyota Camry in Anaheim, killing three
of the car's occupants and injuring two others ... The innocent were identified as Anaheim residents Guadalupe Ramirez, 39, Francisco Martinez, 20, Francisco Aguilar-Brito, 20; the suspect ran a red light and was being chased because he was a suspect for a petty theft at a bar ...

2 reported killed after police pursuit
OCRegister - Orange County, CA January 14, 2006
... A Fullerton officer began the pursuit about 10:30 pm when he spotted a van run a red light near Euclid Street and Orangethorpe Avenue, a police spokesman said. ...

One Dead in San Gabriel Valley Police Chase
abc7.com - Los Angeles,CA, January 13, 2006
ARCADIA - A 16-year-old boy led police on a chase in a stolen car that ended in Arcadia when the stolen vehicle collided another car, killing its driver and ...

CNN LARRY KING LIVE
Interview with John Walsh
Complete Transcript of the Show
Aired December 23, 2002

Walsh: ... Some states' victims have rights and some states' victims have no rights at the at all. I'll tell you what, the U.S. Constitution's been amended 27 times. Four for the criminals' rights. That's OK. They should have their rights. But nothing has ever been put in the Constitution or the Constitution has never been amended for victims' rights. ...

KING: A couple of other quick things. What do you make of the new police chief in L.A. stopping these high-speed police chases?

WALSH: You know, I know Chief Bratton, and he did a great job here in New York City. He's just the guy for the job in Los Angeles. You know, I think two things. First of all, the media covers these police chases way too much. It really spurs up other jerks to get high or drunk and go out there and try to outrun the police. Innocent people get killed. I think there is better ways to do it. Chief Bratton is going to do that. You call ahead to other jurisdictions, you put the nails across the street. You know, innocent people get killed in these police chases, and I'll tell you what, I think the media has a responsibility. Sure, it makes great TV, but it spurs these other creeps to try to do the same thing.



March 22, 2007

Jacob "Jake" Brock, 19, Eagle

Jennifer Kois, 19, Eagle

Suspect in fatal chase is former police officer. Officers chased the suspect for a suspected DUI.

These two teens are just the cutest couple, click here.

January 4, 2006

Monica Ortiz talks about the death of her unborn baby boy, January 4, 2006

Victim In Chase, Crash Talks About Losing Baby
www.kcncnews4.com
Ortiz said that the pain of the loss of her boy is intolerable. She also said she thinks police should have been more cautious in their pursuit of a stolen car.

"I think that he shouldn't have been doing what he was doing and I don't think the police should have been chasing him either," Ortiz said. "I think that if they weren't chasing him I wouldn't have gotten hit."

Kristie's Law does not allow chases for property crimes.

Study Colorado's Pursuit Practices

No reports received


April 2006

Man, 22, charged with murder after crash during police chase
New Castle man killed in fiery collision
delawareonline.com, update
Commentary: All fleeing suspects who kill an innocent person or officer need to be charged with murder.


Erie Dobson, 40, New Castle, April 8
6abc.com - April 9, 2006

Reason for the chase: A Newport police officer was pursuing McKinley, whose license had been suspended for 30 days, about 11:15 p.m. Saturday when McKinley's car struck a Jeep Cherokee at the intersection of Del. 141 and Del. 273.

From the above 6abc.com story: Dead is 40-year-old Erie Dobson, father of two, of New Castle on his way home from a job at Home Depot.

Jason McKinley was fleeing police. He was first spotted driving recklessly along Route 4 in Newport. Police say they tried to stop McKinley's car. McKinley allegedly shot through a residential area and then south of Route 141, outrunning officers. He only stopped when he slammed into Dobson's Jeep.

The Chief says the pursuing officer lost site of the Honda prior to the accident, he says, effectively ending the chase.

Commentary: The Chief's statement may be true, but so often the code of silence prevents the public from knowing for sure. When innocent victims of pursuit are killed, law enforcement spokespersons routinely take this route. This Chief's comments are so familiar. Most of us do not have or receive the facts about these police chases, so every time an innocent person is killed, law enforcement can say to the media and through them to us, these statements:

Study Delaware's Pursuit Practices

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July 2006
Kenneth Roger Gadd, 55, Lakeland, July 17, 2006.
Lakeland Police Officers chased a suspect in a stolen truck.

June 2006

Allison Joy Angerman, 20, Fort Walton Beach, June 30, 2006

March 2006
Pamela Corsen, 59, March 31, 2006

January 2006
Edwin Alvarado, Jan. 23, 2006
WFTV.com 9
Questions surround fatal crash, possible police chase. One uninvolved driver, Edwin Alvarado, died in the crash and six others were injured, including a 2-year-old

CBS News: October 31, 2005
Police chases kill ...
And one-third are innocent bystanders.
Jim Phillips' innocent daughter Sarah was killed ...

Study Florida's Pursuit Practices

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Georgia

February 7, 2008

Sgt. Joanna Ringer, 21

June 27, 2007

Billy Klewitz, 21, Albany, Georgia

ViewPoint: Police chases can be deadly
WALB NEW10 NBC
July 2, 2007

On Wednesday 21-year-old Billy Klewitz likely did what he often did, played video games, played guitar, talked to his friends and listened to rock music.

That night he headed out to pick up his sister. Billy was living his normal life doing what he was supposed to do.

Billy didn't know that a few miles away an attempted police arrest was going badly.

He didn't know that 32-year-old Bobby Jones decided to race away from police.

Billy didn't know the chase was headed head on to him.

Billy's normal life ended before he could pick up his sister.

Bobby Jones life ended before he could get away from police.

Those left behind try to make sense of what happened and lay blame.

There is no doubt that Bobby Jones was not doing what he was supposed to do and that he was at fault for this head on collision.

But now we ask, what about the police. Did they do it right?

We agree that we want to police to arrest the law breakers. And police can't just let everyone go who drives away.

But in this case, should they have backed off and picked up Bobby Jones some other time.

We don't know what may have happened if the police had let Bobby Jones go without a chase. Maybe someone else would be hurt or killed.

But we do know is Billy Klewitz was killed when Bobby Jones was chased. We call on our government leaders to examine closely the chase policy and do everything they can to avoid another deadly police chase.