I’m amazed at this. It occurred at 9:30 AM, right in the middle of the rush hour. How could anybody be so stupid to race on a major highway in the middle of rush hour ?
I saw that on the news yesterday. They should go after the other kids he was racing also. This kid could spend several years in jail.
Well, at least one of the speeding motorcyclists in this crash scenario was caught:
This took place in an urban area, where the speed limit is 30 mph.
Just how fast were these morons on two wheels going when they ignored all of the flashing lights and hit 3 cops?
I saw something similar about five years ago. I was driving north on I-95 between DC and Baltimore. Traffic slowed dramatically in all four lanes. IIRC, it was about 2:30pm, making it early afternoon rush. I pulled into the right lane and could see the traffic jam was caused by four motorcyclists. They slowed to about 25 in all four lanes and then popped wheelies and rode that way for what seemed like a mile, then did it again. I called 911 and was met by a state police officer that didn’t seem to care at all about the incident.
It’s amazing that he apparently didn’t see a problem with those 4 guys snarling up traffic so they could have their fun
If he doesn’t care about what you described, then just what IS his job . . . ?!
perhaps when he got there, the bikers were long gone?
Attitude is very important
If a citizen tells law enforcement about a dangerous situation, and the displays a “devil may care” attitude, that’s a problem, in my opinion
Maybe the bikers were long gone . . . but how the officer communicated with @jtsanders is also very important
Maybe he left the encounter thinking “Well, it’s obvious the police didn’t take what I said very seriously. Next time I see something, why should I bother calling it in? They’re not going to do anything about it, anyways . . .”
Here in North Mississippi the public’s attitude for law enforcement can be over the top. In an extremely rural area of the state a young man spent his spare time and money building his version of the General Lee. After adding nitrous the wannabe Duke Boy took his car out for a test drive and was seen by a State Trooper who lived nearby and turned on his blue lights in hot pursuit. The General Lee was too much for the Patrol car but despite the Officer knowing the man he was chasing he continued his efforts to catch him and lost control leaving the road and dying in the crash. The wannabe Duke Boy was arrested and charged with DEPRAVED HEART MURDER and found guilty, receiving a long sentence. Personally I felt that the charge and sentence were over the top as the officer’s bad judgement in becoming fixated on the chase was largely responsible for his death. If the officer had driven the speed limit to the young man’s home he would have either found him there or after a short wait he would have arrived.
The Dukes of Hazard was great entertainment for teenage boys but adults holding on to the wheels of both hobby cars and patrol cars need to grow up.
Couldn’t the officer have called for backup or some kind of a roadblock a few miles down the road?
While I’m sorry to hear the state trooper died, I agree that if he’d made different decisions, he’d likely be alive
here in Los Angeles, in recent years there has been great discussion about what approach law enforcement should take regarding pursuits
Pursue at all costs?
Cease the pursuit, if the suspect isn’t posing a danger to the public?
Arrange for a roadblock further down the road?
That’s exactly how I felt. I thought about it for a while and decided that policewoman wasn’t going to send troopers of a chase that could end up killing or maiming themselves, innocent citizens, or the morons on the bikes. No matter who gets hurt, even the idiots, the police might be in trouble.
I guess I might also have been the 30th caller, but that doesn’t excuse her bad attitude.
The only other time I called 911 on the highway, someone was having difficulty staying in their lane. This time, the officer was attentive and very interested in an exact description of the vehicle, location, and direction of travel.
1 Like
rereading my post, I saw that the driver was held on bail of $10000. WOW
given that he wrecked 4 cars and a motorcycle and caused major injuries to 3 people, I’d think the bail should be much higher.
2 Likes
sounds like either distraction . . . texting or talking on the phone comes to mind . . . or dui
I was thinking drunk given the time of day.
Unfortunately the off-duty officer died from his injuries last night. 55yo. Was going to retire in 2 years.
RIP, hope they jack up the bail and charges for the punk now 
2 Likes
Maybe a “compound” charge if there is such a thing. Criminally Negligent Vehicular Homicide.
3 Likes
@jtsanders. In many jurisdictions the 911 operators are not police officers. Training quality and performance standards vary greatly from very professional to very amateur.
Even large dispatch centers with good standards and procedures end up with some real losers on stsff. I’ve been known to hang up and immediately call 911 back in hopes of getting a different dispatcher, then went to the trouble later of filing an official complaint, knowing the recording would back up my complaint.
They’re trained members of the fire department around here.
Yep, a shame and I hate to see this. Sometimes emotions takes over in a chase situation. In the rural areas of Minnesota, another patrol may be 20-30 miles away and not much help. True they could radio for local support but same issue there, so sometimes you are just on your own.
I have called 911 a couple of times on the road with varying results. True these are non-LE and sometimes a couple counties removed from the area in question as they try to consolidate operations to save money. One time I reported some cattle on the road in a rural area that had broken out of their corral. A guy answered and wanted to know if they were brown or black so he could identify whose they were. I thought that was pretty good actually. Another time though I called to report a pick up that I spotted in my mirror going off the road and rolling in a snow storm. I had to argue with her that it just happened when she insisted that they already got the report. She just couldn’t comprehend that there were two separate roll overs on an icy interstate.
1 Like