DC Cop Charged...

[DucDave]

Remeber the cop who caused the pile up in DC chasing a bike ???
« on: February 14, 2008, 08:01:24 am »

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he's been charged with 2 counts of vehicluar man slaughter. the rider was charged with nothing because he apparent did nothing to start the high speed pursuit. Cop is looking at 20yrs in prison

Video - Breaking News Videos from CNN.com

This will likely surpise some of you....

[VinceF2]

I can only imagine the smile on some of the faces reading this... none of us were there to know the who what why... but I'll call BULLSHIT... that the rider isn't held partially at fault as well... When the next time rolls around and that department doesn't pursue and it ends up being the guy who just raped and murdered a family... they'll probably be charged for not performing their duties...

flame away...

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

I can only imagine the smile on some of the faces reading this... none of us were there to know the who what why... but I'll call BULLSHIT... that the rider isn't held partially at fault as well... When the next time rolls around and that department doesn't pursue and it ends up being the guy who just raped and murdered a family... they'll probably be charged for not performing their duties...

flame away...

Nobody is smiling, People are dead and injured. The grand jury decided who they they think is responsible,

[schleppy]

What an absolute clusterfuck. There are good arguments for all sides of this case, but nobody is going to "win" this. People still died for no reason at all.

[Pittenger5]

Well the report makes it perfectly clear, and I thought I had read it, the department has a non-high speed chase clause in their rules, aside from 2 reasons. The biker did neither of those, thus, the police officer should not have been on a high speed chase.
That being said, I feel bad for him, he probably didnt think of the department policies once the adrenaline started flowing. But fact of the matter is, he broke department regulations, people died, this is what happens.
We break the law, we should be punished. Officers break the law, they should be punished as well.

[RandyO]

When the next time rolls around and that department doesn't pursue and it ends up being the guy who just raped and murdered a family... they'll probably be charged for not performing their duties...

flame away...

Actually Vince, I thought your were different than most LEO's until you made that moronic statement

we can "what if" all day long, and we barely know any of the facts from the short news story, one thing for sure, laws are not the same in every state, but LEO attitudes apparently are, I'm sure if the procecuters in MD thought they could get the biker for something, they would have

[SVRACER01]

When the next time rolls around and that department doesn't pursue and it ends up being the guy who just raped and murdered a family... they'll probably be charged for not performing their duties...

flame away...

thats a stretch.....
he broke the rules, just like the kid on the bike. the difference. kid didnt crash and cause a 7 car pile up with 15 injured and 2 dead.
it sounds like the "no chase" policy isnt the only rule he broke. he also didnt call in for back up properly. maybe if he had his supervisor would have told him to cease the chase and there wouldnt have been an accident.

[markbvt]

As much as I think the kid on the bike is an idiot for riding at those speeds on the Beltway (and I grew up in the DC area, so I know all about what the Beltway is like), the only crime he committed to spark the chase was speeding. And he should absolutely be held accountable for that and especially for running, and I'm surprised that he hasn't been charged.

But the cop is the one who killed people. He should never have initiated the chase in the first place -- should have just called it in. There might have been a helicopter in the area that could follow the kid. Taking off at 130mph in a Crown Vic in good conditions is stupid. Doing it in Beltway traffic is insane -- and I agree with the grand jury, it's criminal.

--mark

[rjh200]

They should both be charged. To say the motorcyclist did nothing wrong is insane. He was speeding and he ran from the police. He should share just as much fault as the officer if not more. The fact is if he not run those people would be alive.

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

They should both be charged. To say the motorcyclist did nothing wrong is insane. He was speeding and he ran from the police. He should share just as much fault as the officer if not more. The fact is if he not run those people would be alive.

Nope, I am sure the DA and the grand jury Looked into this as well, Bottom line If the cop followed His department policies, Those people would most likely still be alive.

[markbvt]

Update: I talked to a friend of mine who still lives in the DC area, and as far as he remembers, the motorcyclist was never identified.

Kind of hard to charge someone if you don't know whom to charge.

--mark

[rjh200]

Update: I talked to a friend of mine who still lives in the DC area, and as far as he remembers, the motorcyclist was never identified.

Kind of hard to charge someone if you don't know whom to charge.

--mark

Well if that is the case it is a different story, but if they did identify the motorcyclist then that person should be charged as well as it was their actions that started the whole thing.

I know the cop did not follow policies but that does not take part of the blame off of the motorcyclist. It was that persons choice to RUN that caused the problem in the first place.

[VinceF2]

Well lucky for me I'm not too concerned with if anyone thinks I am a moron or not... or I might have to crawl in a corner and cry...

I never said the cop didn't have fault... I just think the rider needs to share blame... the cop broke policy... the rider broke the law... if either had not done so... no one would have died...

anyone who deals with the hypocritical double standards all day that cops do would understand why this might piss me off a bit..

everyone complains until they're the ones caught up in it...

[Pittenger5]

I agree with you, they way you made it sound is that the cop shouldnt be in trouble and 100% of the blame likes with the biker. Yes, he should be punished for running (if they catch him) maybe they can be creative and get him for negligent homicide, or involuntary manslaughter or something but I doubt it. But the fact remains, the cop broke policy. Policy they have in place SPECIFICALLY to avoid incidents like this. So he also deserves to be punished, and I think is more to blame than the biker.

[VinceF2]

well if you haven't noticed I am against no pursuit policies... people expect miracles while tying our hands behind our backs... pursuits need to be conducted with caution... not done away with... why would anyone ever stop if they knew we couldn't pursue? motorola will be someones answer... and yup your right... can't out run it... but still... people can't have their cake and eat it to... IMO

oh and FWIW... I was already in a pissy mood when I first replied to this thread... my responses are usually a little more thought out...

[DucDave]

The biker, if identified, should be charged with speeding and evading the police. What's so complicated about that?

[Pittenger5]

Ok, youre against these policys, I can respect that. Id probably agree with you, but I dont know a whole lot about the subject. That being said, the policy is in place, the cop broke the rules, he killed people, he deserves much of the punishment.
I'm against 65 miles an hour speed limits on the highway. I dont agree with these policys set in place. Im gonna doing 150 on the high way. Now if I hit and kill someone, am I gonna be punished? Youre damn right I will be. Should it make a difference if its a cop, or me? It shouldnt.
Another thing to consider, Im assuming, that most departments have a policy against shooting out tires in a pursuit, at least on the move. If an officer does it, and hits an innocent person, will he be punished? I would hope so, its basically the same situation.

[bigred875]

this is turning into a productive debate

[RandyO]

like I said in my first post, we barely know the facts of the case AND if the procecuter thought he could have charged the bike he would have

AND I think it's moronic to speculate without the facts

[Pittenger5]

I just like to fight. Cause Im always right. Everyone else is always wrong.

[VinceF2]

Ok, youre against these policys, I can respect that. Id probably agree with you, but I dont know a whole lot about the subject. That being said, the policy is in place, the cop broke the rules, he killed people, he deserves much of the punishment.
I'm against 65 miles an hour speed limits on the highway. I dont agree with these policys set in place. Im gonna doing 150 on the high way. Now if I hit and kill someone, am I gonna be punished? Youre damn right I will be. Should it make a difference if its a cop, or me? It shouldnt.
Another thing to consider, Im assuming, that most departments have a policy against shooting out tires in a pursuit, at least on the move. If an officer does it, and hits an innocent person, will he be punished? I would hope so, its basically the same situation.

my being against no pursuit policies in no way means I believe cops should be able to break those policies if in place... I'm not arguing that he had fault in it... my frustration comes from the lack of blame on the runner ANYTIME this topic is brought up... after the fact when people are preaching about how the only infraction was speeding... it's fogotten that at the time the pursuit begins... the cop does not have that information... and has to make a decision... I am against not allowing the Officer the oppurtunity to SAFELY pursue and apprehend the fleeing suspect... and yes... once you run you are a suspect.... innocent people don't run...

[Pittenger5]

Ok, in this case, knowing what (little) we know right now, what would you charge the biker with? I want your honest opinion.

[bigred875]

running from the police for starters

[BLACK SQUIRREL]

... it's fogotten that at the time the pursuit begins... the cop does not have that information... and has to make a decision... I am against not allowing the Officer the oppurtunity to SAFELY pursue and apprehend the fleeing suspect... and yes... once you run you are a suspect.... innocent people don't run...

There are no saints involved with this

[bigred875]

nice ninja edit....pretty sure you are the type of person he is talking about....blame the cop first, nice attitude....

biker broke the law, cop attempted to pull pver biker, biker takes off, cop follows then crashes..

biker is off scott free...cops does 20 years...ya makes sense to me...

do you guy think through your opinions before posting them? The punishement doesnt fit the crime...

people jsut cant seem to accept the fact that running from the police is by itself a crime....and a very serious one...like vince was refering to...innocent people dont run...no call for back up would have given any more inforation other then information about the bike and its owner. The odds of this guy being a serious criminal far exceeds him being "just a speeder"

if you twist the throttle when the blue lights are on you promoted yourself from "just a speeder" to criminal....