Jacksonville Police Chase of DUI Suspect Ends with Stop Sticks
This crash had all the potential to be very serious after a 31-year-old drove the wrong way into downtown Jacksonville with police following him. The man was in a 2005 Buick LeSabre heading west in the eastbound lanes of the Arlington Expressway and the Mathews Bridge when he hit a 27-year-old female driver, according to a report in the Florida Times-Union, who was not injured. The man kept driving after the crash and was finally stopped by officers at Addison Road following the use of stop sticks, which punctured the tire of the fleeing vehicle. Inside the vehicle, law enforcement found a small amount of marijuana and an open bottle of Crown Royal whiskey. The man was charged with driving while intoxicated and driving on the wrong side of a divided highway, as well as leaving an accident scene and being in possession of an open alcohol bottle and marijuana.
Fortunately, no one was killed by this reckless driver and police used sound judgment to stop the offender before he could travel any further and put the public in danger.
The citizen group Voices Insisting on Pursuit Safety was formed after many innocent civilians were killed over the years by police pursuits. The group estimates four or five bystanders are killed every week in the U.S. as the result of police chases. Ultimately, it is up to individual police departments to establish their own pursuit policy.
While Pursuit Safety endorses police chases only for violent crimes, the group also recognizes excellence by law enforcement and its officers to apprehend a suspect without hurting innocent victims. The group was established nine years ago by family members of those who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time and found themselves run over by law enforcement or the person being pursued. The survivors of these innocent civilians had nowhere to take their grief until the group was formed.
Farah & Farah encourage you to visit the website and see the suffering that can result from a department without a public safety-minded police chase policy. It gives you something to think about. If you have been injured in an auto accident that you feel was caused by the negligence of another driver, such as the woman in this police chase-related incident, the experienced car accident attorneys in Jacksonville of Farah & Farah can help you hold the negligent parties responsible. For a complimentary consultation, please call (800) 533-3555.
Source:http://jacksonville.com/news/crime/2011-12-23/story/car-chase-leads-collision-ends-after-jacksonville-police-use-stop-sticks;http://pursuitsafety.org/
