Burglary suspects crash into cars while fleeing

Jen Lawson

Monday, May 17, 2004 | 10:54 a.m.

Burglary suspects fleeing from a Metro Police officer crashed into two cars this morning at Sahara Avenue and Lindell Road, police said.

The chase began about 4:15 a.m. after a security guard flagged down a Metro officer at Twain Avenue and Valley View Boulevard and said there had just been a robbery nearby, Officer Jose Montoya said.

The officer spotted the car, a white Pontiac Trans Am, and tried to pull it over, but it didn't stop.

Montoya said the officer couldn't keep up with the suspect, who was reportedly going more than 100 mph. At 4:40 a.m., the car crashed into two vehicles at Sahara and Lindell.

At the time of the crash the officer chasing the Trans Am was a half-mile behind it, Montoya said.

After the crash, the driver and passenger jumped out of the car and ran. The passenger was caught, but the driver has not yet been found, police said.

The passenger from the Trans Am and two people in the cars that were hit were taken to University Medical Center to be treated for non life-threatening injuries, police said.

Police said the suspects allegedly burglarized a business and had not committed a robbery, so the security guard's initial report was wrong. But even so, the pursuit does appear to have been conducted in compliance with Metro's pursuit policy, Montoya said.

The department adopted a more restrictive pursuit policy last year. Criteria such as the seriousness of the crime, traffic, weather, road conditions, whether the need for immediate apprehension outweighs the dangers posed by the chase and whether police know the suspect and can make the arrest later should be taken into account when deciding if an officer should continue a chase.

A supervisor must constantly re-evaluate the circumstances of the chase and should terminate it if it becomes too dangerous, the policy notes.