Frontal air bags are generally designed to deploy in “moderate to severe” frontal or near-frontal crashes, which are defined as crashes that are equivalent to hitting a solid, fixed barrier at 8 to 14 mph or higher. (This would be equivalent to striking a parked car of similar size at about 16 to 28 mph or higher.)
Not sure if there was enough decel to blow the bags?
Based on the pictures of the front end of that car, the air bags should have deployed.
They are now trying to say these guys were fleeing a previous crime. As one Twit commented, "You're going to have to create some fraudulent scanner audio to make that whopper fly."