Anderson Cooper

360°


People from across the United States contacted me to express their concern about public safety and police pursuits. Three pieces of information were not included in the Anderson Cooper 360° show on Kristie's Law:

  1. The Chico Police Officers did not follow their pursuit policy during the chase that killed Kristie.

  2. Prior to the chase the officers knew the full identity of the teen & that it was mom's RAV4.

  3. I did blame the teen for Kristie's death. She took her mother's RAV4 without permission and during the police chase, she plowed into our family van.

    I talked about all three items during the CNN interview, but they were not included in the broadcast.

    Anderson Cooper 360° ran this story on Kristie's Law

    From the Anderson Cooper 360° Blog, Officer Jabe Jacquart, Salina, KS, wrote: ... The incident with Kristie Priano is a tragedy, but from the information given [on Cooper 360°] I don't know if the pursuing officers were already aware of the driver's identity or if they just knew it was a stolen car.... 

    In response to Officer Jacquart and other questions about the chase, I (Candy Priano) submitted a comment to the Blog, but it was not posted. ... Information in the police documents about this chase reveal that the officers knew the teen's full identity, where she lived & that it was mom's car. Prior to the chase, the teen was driving in an appropriate manner (nothing in any of the police documents suggests otherwise). In fact, according to the police report, the teen said she and her friend had been driving around Chico for two hours prior to the chase. Two minutes into the police pursuit and here's the result: An innocent child was killed and three innocent people were injured and their lives altered forever.

    Kristie is more than a name on a piece of legislation that will save lives.  My hope is that people will also remember Kristie for the way she lived:  a community volunteer, honor student, and athlete, along with being a daughter who filled my heart and our home with joy. 

    Here is my response to additional comments made on the Anderson Cooper blog ... 
    read it here

 

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