Truck Crashes After Police Pursuit
Attorney
(866) 735-1102 Ext 415
Another accident in the streets of Jacksonville highlights just how dangerous police pursuits can be.
This time three men in a truck whose driver appeared "suspicious" to police, took off in a neighborhood of Edgewood Avenue. Police began a high speed chase which lasted about 20 minutes, putting all of us in danger. They then deployed stop-sticks in order to blow out the tires of the fleeing truck.
The problems with stop sticks have been noted in other police agencies. In order to stop suspicious criminals, officers have to go to the area to open up a bag containing the stretch of cloth holding the prongs which puncture tires. This avoids a blow out and further injury to he public.
But police agencies have lost officers with the use of stop-sticks. A suspect, seeing the prongs in the road can swerve to avoid them, hitting law enforcement who have just deployed them.
Luckily in his case, the Jacksonsonville Sheriff's office slowed the truck which then hit a utility pole in the area of Moncrief and Raines Avenue. The driver was tasered and hospitalized though not seriously injured. All three were charged with running from police in a possibly stolen vehicle.
The public is clearly in danger when officers pursue suspects at high speeds in residential areas - stop-sticks help resolve this difficult public safety issue, but officers must be trained in using them to keep themselves out of harms way.