Posted on 08/09/2009 9:40:00 AM PDT by Sleeping Freeper
FRESNO, Calif. — The California Highway Patrol says a police chase in Dinuba has ended with seven people dead, including four children.
The patrol says Dinuba police were trying to stop a car Saturday afternoon for a traffic infraction.
Patrol Sgt. Jon Baker says the driver went through a stop sign during the pursuit and collided with a pickup truck.
The Fresno Bee reports that five children were in the truck and four of them were ejected and died at the scene. It says the surviving child and two adults in that vehicle were taken to Community Regional Medical Center in Fresno.
The Bee also says all three people in the car being followed by police were killed.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Someone was fleeing because of a traffic violation? This world is going crazy.
I’m torn on the police chase issue, is it saving anyone to get them off the street when they kill people in the process?
That being said, FIVE CHILDREN IN A TRUCK? Was this one of those backseat truck? If so, why weren’t they in seatbelts? Did they have four seatbelt failures? What are the odds?
Of course this is the LEO's fault and the taxpayers will pay big time./sarc
I believe that if you lead police on a high speed chase you should be charged with murder in the first degree if someone dies in the pursuit and attempted murder even if no one else ends up getting involved.
Don’t chase! Use the technology that the police have to catch up. If the car was stopped/being stopped then the police had a good description. DO NOT CHASE!!!! It is NOT necessary!!!
Someone was fleeing because of a traffic violation? This world is going crazy.
“The Bee also says all three people in the car being followed by police were killed.”
It’s a little hard to charge them if they’re dead.
But I do agree, if there had been survivors in the chased car, then they should be charged with murder.
There were FIVE children in the pick-up truck? even with an extended cab this makes no sense. Sounds like IF they were inside the truck they had NO seat belts or (more likely) they were riding in the bakc of the truck and were ‘ejected’ that way.
Don’t blame the police for doing their jobs. So often the driver runs from the police not because of a minor infraction but because of outstanding warrants or a recently committed crime
They have a description of the car, but what if it was a stolen car? What if the people in the car had just committed a robbery?
Put an attempted murder charge on a high speed pursuit and put these reckless, dangerous buttholes behind bars!
When dors Obama call the police out for acting stupidly???
Apparently someone thought running from the police over a traffic infraction was worth dying for. killing for too.
I rode in the back of a truck all the time as a kid. It was common. Times have changed though and people are getting dumber and dumber all the time it seems.
Consider the possibility (probability?) that the children were riding in the bed of the truck.
A FReeper on another thread says she knows the family and all five of the children have now died.
How do you get a description of the driver from behind?
I rode in the back of a pickup until the time I saw someone fly head first onto the pavement.
I think its illegal now in Texas for a child to be in the back without seat belts.
Your argument is baseless:
1. It doesn't take into account if the vehicle was stolen.
2. It doesn't take into account what possible crimes the person may have committed and then later concealed when getting away.
3. It doesn't take into account the availability and type of said mythical technology.
4. It puts the civil liability squarely on the police for any actions taken to arrest, instead of the criminal.
5. It says to the police “Don't chase ever!”
6. It says to the criminal “Always run!”
That may be your dream for society, it sure isn't a rational persons.
I am sorry the tragedy occurred. Let's try an alternate reality where the criminals were held responsible for their actions:
1. Fleeing and eluding is a deadly force issue. Cops can shoot to stop you.
2. If anyone is injured or killed you do a hard 40 years, no ifs, ands, or buts.
3. The person fleeing is responsible for all civil damages from fleeing and will work for the state in a work release program until every penny is paid or they go to jail.
How long do you think people will choose to run facing that? Now you are (in the general sense of you) encouraging people to run because the cops won't chase. This is the result. In my alternate reality no one runs because they will either be shot or spend most of their lives in jail. Avoiding getting a ticket or spending a month in jail for FTA on a past charge becomes a lot less attractive.
High speed chases over traffic violations are pointless. There are plenty of better ways of tracking down the perp without this 100+ MPH idiocy. High speed chases should only be used for the most severe of emergencies.
Prayers for those at the scene who will forever be disturbed by those awful images.
99 percent of the time it’s not actually about the traffic violation.
Fault lies wit the idiot adult who crammed 5 kids into a friggin pickup. Barring a catastrophic collision or an unlucky break, those kids would more than likely be alive still if properly restrained.
Very possible.
I didn’t even want to consider that, I was giving extreme benefit of the doubt as it was.
I doubt it. It sounds like they were traveling in the cargo bay of the pickup. It wouldn't surprise me if they were Mexican-American.
That's not the point. These kids could have been standing on the sidewalk with the same result.
If you watch one of the TV shows with real police chases you will see how often innocents are caught up in wrecks at the end of the chase. Since often the chases are being filmed from a helicopter there is no way the vehicle can elude the police.
These high speed chases should be done only for the most extreme violent criminals who are likely to hurt someone if not captured.
Id the driver,
since when is a traffic infraction more important than someones life.
“since when is a traffic infraction more important than someones life”
Ask the guy who actually performed the traffic infraction. He did it.
Bingo!!!!
No but he was running a stop sign. The cop didn’t run it for him.
So, you guys don’t have a problem with seven people getting killed—most innocent kids just to catch a guy who commits a traffic violation? At this point NOTHING else is reported other than a routine traffic stop. NO CHASE!!!! NEVER!!! Use the Motorola!!!
Have you never been in farm country? Odds are they were riding in the bed. I’ve only done it about a million times.
And running him down was worth killing how many people? Don’t dis a cop!!
100% agree.
Why?
I have a serious problem with people being killed, but the cause of those deaths was the moron who decided that escaping the police was worth the deaths of himself, his passengers, and anyone who got in his way.
The argument you make is the same argument used in the “don’t resist the armed gunman” screed. Just give in and maybe no one will get hurt, right?
No!!
The runner is the cause of these deaths.
Without the crime, there is no death. Without the criminal, there is no crime.
The Obamas and Gates of the world are responsible for all of these deaths. Their thinking has vilified the police and their logic puts blame on others rather than the true perpetrators. They have rewarded irresponsible behavior from all their progressive welfare programs and made irresponsible behavior profitable.
The police should not be able to be sued or vilified if there was a legitimate reason (breaking the law) for them to go after the vehicle.
There should NEVER be anyone thinking that the POLICE were partly responsible because they decided to "chase" the people. Those fleeing the scene of the crime are totally responsible.
As far as the children being thrown out of the pickup. That was probably illegal also since pickups normally have only three seat belts. The parents are partly responsible for the deaths of those children, if that were the case. The parents and the law breakers.
We have got to hold people accountable for their actions and not always try to pass the blame. It is what is destroying this nation.
Silly person.
What I have a problem with is the conditions that convinced the suspect to run in the first place.
YOUR views set up the deaths, not mine.
You didn’t address any of the points I raised, of course.
The radio does what? Call other cops that also can’t chase? How many do you think are out there? Many cities average on the street one cop per 5-10 thousand. Where is all this mythical manpower and mythical technology?
My way the kids never would have been killed. Yours, they are dead. Always chase! Always stop suspects any way you can! Always imprison for a hard 40 those that run! Stop future chases! Save future children!
Oh, sorry, the ! key is sticking.
NOT BINGO!
Do you think police can read the minds of these idiots? The criminals should never be allowed to get away, it encourages more running of red lights and get aways.
As any child development specialist knows....it is consistency that gets results. You do not allow illegal behavior some of the time....that is what leads to total chaos and meaningless laws. More importantly, you NEVER allow criminal behavior to profit from lawbreaking by suing police....(taking taxpayer money).
Better yet: Don’t even show up for work. Nothing you do is right. One side hates you because you do too much; the other side hates you because you do too little. Call in sick for the next six months if you carry a badge and gun. Grow roses, think happy thoughts.
No chases for any reason. No deaths. No problem.
Wrong, the next step would be there should never be anyone question an honest cop blowing away a little old lady are planting drugs. Cops forget who is their boss!!
Thanks for injecting a note of wisdom into the comversation. The individuals who keep saying “don’t chase anybody for a traffic infraction” would be the same ones saying, “why didn’t the police DO something?” when it turned out that the guy committing that infraction was fleeing from a high-profile felony that hadn’t gotten on the air yet.
Yeah, a lot of times it’s about warrants, guns, drugs, or lack of citizenship, but the bottom line is, you don’t know when you start chasing them.
I recall a case from the San Fernando Valley where two officers were just leaving the scene of a family disturbance call. As they started back to their car, some hopped-up nutcase doing about 80 in a thirty-five zone blew by them. They looked up at him, but recognized they had no chance of getting to the car and getting in motion in time. The guy, seeing the cops, sped up, blew through a light, and killed a family. The immediate outcry? “If the police hadn’t looked at him and made him nervous, this never would have happened.”
Alternate realities always come complete with 20-20 hindsight.
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