Sheriff defends police chase that led to death

Jen Lawson

Friday, Sept. 26, 2003 | 11:12 a.m.

A police chase Thursday morning that resulted in a 16-year-old car break-in suspect driving into another car, killing a woman, was within Metro's recently revised vehicular pursuit policy, Sheriff Bill Young said.

Roberta J. Stroh, 57, the victim, was "a completely innocent person," Young said, adding that he offered his condolences to her family.

Jim Stroh, Roberta's husband since 1967, was out of town on business and found out about his wife's death Thursday afternoon. He was still trying to piece everything together and hadn't yet spoken to Metro.

He said he wished police could have used another way to catch the suspect. "I thought there were things to stick on the street to stop people" when they're running from police, he said.

David Gatlin, the juvenile who police said tried to steal property from a car then fled from the officer, is being treated for moderate injuries at University Medical Center. He has been charged with a variety of offenses, including second-degree murder with a weapon.

Several hours after the crash, Gatlin's brother went to the hospital to visit him and police arrested him in connection with the car break-in and possession of a stolen vehicle.

To try to avoid crashes like the one that killed Stroh, many police departments have policies that prohibit vehicle pursuits except in cases where the suspect poses an imminent danger -- an armed suspected killer who might kill someone else if he is not caught right away, for example.

Asked at a Thursday afternoon news conference if burglary of a car was a serious enough crime to warrant a chase, Young said: "Under our policy, yes."

"While there certainly is a victim in this, there is also a suspect," Young said. "There's no question in my mind that it was this suspect and his actions that caused this."

The incident began to unfold about 6:30 a.m., when residents of the Alpine Village Apartments on Brush Street between Alta Drive and Charleston Boulevard spotted at least four teenage boys trying to steal belongings from a car, Capt. Rick Bilyeu of Metro's transportation safety bureau said.

One of the witnesses managed to grab Gatlin. The other three ran away.

Gatlin broke free from the witness' grasp, then jumped into a maroon 1990 Toyota Camry, police said. The car had no rear license plate and police later learned the car had been reported stolen Sept. 12, police said.

Witnesses flagged down a police officer and while they were reporting what had happened, a witness spotted Gatlin driving by.

The officer, whose name wasn't released, started after the Toyota. The teen didn't stop and led the officer on a chase that lasted less than five minutes and ranged in speed from 25 to 60 mph, Young said.

Metro's leadership revised the department's police pursuit policy in March, calling for ways to avoid crashes by using helicopters, having officers back off and requiring supervisors to continually evaluate the need for the chase.

The policy says several factors need to be taken into consideration when pursuing suspects, including the seriousness of the crime, whether the need for the immediate apprehension of the suspect outweighs the dangers created by the chase, traffic conditions and weather.

"I'm very comfortable with the policy we have," Young said. "Based on the initial information, it appears to me that the actions of the officer fall within that policy."

As the policy mandates, a sergeant and lieutenant monitored the chase via radio during the chase and both a primary and secondary officer pursued Gatlin, Young said.

A helicopter wasn't used because the department has no helicopter staffing between 4 and 8 a.m.

The traffic was not heavy, and "it sounds like the pursuit suspect stopped at some stop signs and lights," Young said.

But Gatlin didn't stop at a red light at Alta Drive and Jones Boulevard.

As Stroh passed through the intersection, heading north on Jones on a green light, Gatlin crashed into her white 1996 Mazda 626. Gatlin had been going west on Alta. Stroh was pronounced dead at the scene.

In addition to second-degree murder, Gatlin was charged with felony reckless driving involving death, felony evading a police officer involving death, possession of stolen property and burglary.

Gatlin's brother, whose name wasn't released, was booked into the county juvenile facility on charges of possession of a stolen vehicle, conspiracy to commit auto burglary and conspiracy to commit grand larceny. He was recently released from state prison where he served time for robbery, police said.

"I think all of us expect the police to do our job, which is fight crime and catch bad guys, and that's what these officers were doing," Young said.

"My focus today and the focus of everyone at Metro is the victim," he added. "Out of respect for her, that's all I want to say."

Jim Stroh, who is in the health testing field, said his wife "had a great heart" and was a hard worker. She had her own silk plant cleaning business and also worked at Dillard's.

She had just taken her grandson's mother home and was heading back to her house near West Charleston Boulevard and Durango Drive when the crash occurred, Jim Stroh said.

They have three children, three grandchildren and one on the way, he said.

"I just told my grandson, who is 10," Jim Stroh said softly. "I said she's not coming home; she was called to a better place. It's tough."

"If you learn a lesson, it's don't take people for granted while they're here," he added. "Treat them good."