One Dead, Six Injured By Oakland Driver Fleeing Police

KTVU-TV ^ | Dec. 31, 2009 | KTVU-TV Oakland

[Beaten Valve]

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A car thief attempting to evade Oakland police made a disastrous miscalculation during a high speed chase and plowed into multiple vehicles, killing one elderly woman and injuring six others, according to police.

At 10:50 a.m., police attempted to pull over a stolen Toyota with a driver and three passengers. The speeding car smashed into two other cars, one parked, at 62nd Avenue and Foothill Blvd in Oakland, police said.

Everyone in the stolen car as well as the drivers of the two other cars were hospitalized. A 63-year-old woman who was a passenger in a white Saturn died minutes after being taken to Highland Hospital, according to police.

Some of the passengers in the stolen car were reported to be juveniles by police. After being taken to the hospital, all four in the Toyota were put under arrest. None of them appeared to be seriously injured, according to police.

[rovenstinez]

An displaced worker from another nation?

[CholeraJoe]

Amish teens out for a lark?

[taillightchaser]

Well, this will bring out all the “It’s the cops fault” crowd.

[GeronL]

Liberals will blame the pursuit. Not the criminal.

[Scotsman will be Free]

My oh my. Kinda touchy ain’tcha?

[maggief]

[Talisker]

Well, this will bring out all the “It’s the cops fault” crowd.

Cops are sometimes actually at fault. Like when they kick a prone suspect in the head who is laying face down, spreadeagled, surrendered, compliant, unarmed, when they run up to him, and then they high-five with another cop who repeatedly smashes the same victim in the face with his flashlight.

But in this case, it seems the cops had nothing to do with the tragedy of the thief losing control of the the stolen car and killing innocent people.

So be careful. It's important not to mix things up - details matter.

[Gay State Conservative]

Let's see now....who can the dead woman's family sue? The perp? Nah...he ain't got no Benjamins.The Police Department! That's it!!!

[ErnBatavia]

Time may be catching up....I'm 62, and noted that the "elderly" dead victim was 63.

What happened to just kinda easing thru 'middle age'...?

[a fool in paradise]

Tirespikes and bullets work better than chasing vehicles until they inevitably collide with civilians. But there is blowback for using force against fleeing yutes.

Car chases are rotten for citizens.

[HiTech RedNeck]

There was an adage — you might outrun a squad car but you cannot outrun Motorola. These battles need to be picked wisely. The car that catches the rogue motorist may not be the one that spotted him/her.

[PAR35]

An displaced worker from another nation?

Oakland? I'd guess not.

[a fool in paradise]

I’m okay with the police using force to stop the cars. Collide with them. Don’t follow until they collide with someone ELSE. That’s chickensh*t. Don’t want the lawsuits.

It leaves our streets bloody.

[snowtigger]

The only thing I blame the cops for is letting these punks run as long as they do. The PIT maneuver works. They should use ot every time, unless there are known hostages in the car.

I, personally don't care what happens to these criminals, all four of them. If you aren't ready to suffer the consequences, don't get in the car.

The longer they let them run, the more likely some INNOCENT bystander will get hurt.

[umgud]

Car chases are rotten for citizens.

Partly because they let the chases go on for so long. Either stop them quickly or don't chase them.

[jessduntno]

“What happened to just kinda easing thru ‘middle age’...?”

I don’t know about you, but as people keep asking me about middle age, I keep asking them “How many 126 year olds do YOU know?”

[traditional1]

Ambulance Chasers are speeding towards Oakland, to sue the snot out of the Police Department (aka, the taxpayers), to single out that the pursuit was not necessary, while totally ignoring the shallow-pockets driver who was responsible.

[traditional1]

"Cops are sometimes actually at fault. Like when they kick a prone suspect in the head who is laying face down, spreadeagled, surrendered, compliant, unarmed, when they run up to him, and then they high-five with another cop who repeatedly smashes the same victim in the face with his flashlight."

I'm sure this doesn't happen regularly, and that if a SUSPECT THAT IS KNOWN DUE TO PREVIOUS LAW-BREAKING, and the suspect is a DANGER, they might use force to avoid some similar acts that occurred in the past.

[aSeattleConservative]

Cops are sometimes actually at fault. Like when they kick a prone suspect in the head who is laying face down... So be careful. It's important not to mix things up - details matter.

Yes, details do matter. How about some further details on your "brutal cop" bashing story. Was the beaten suspect a jaywalker? Or perhaps he was a child murderer (I need to know what size of hankerchief to wipe the tears away after reading your vivid description of "PO-leece" brutality).

Details do matter.