All posts tagged: Texas

Are police chases of non-violent felons worth the risk?

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DALLAS — Police chases sometimes end tragically.

In 2005, 21-year-old Guillermo Mendoza, an innocent bystander, was killed when Dallas police officers were chasing a drug suspect and crashed.

Mendoza’s brother told News 8 at the time his brother died for no reason.

“This time, it was my brother,” he said. “Next time, maybe someone else.”

Mendoza’s case was one of the reasons then-police chief David Kunkle changed the pursuit policy in 2006. He made it one of the most restrictive policies in the nation, allowing officers to only chase violent felons.

DISD Police Chief Craig Miller was with DPD at the time.

“It gets back to, is what they have done wrong enough to put our lives and citizens lives and that person’s life in jeopardy to pursue them?” Miller said.

In 2005, the year before DPD changed its policy, there were 354 chases — almost one a day. Twenty-one officers and 21 civilians were injured in the pursuits.

Since then, chase numbers have dropped dramatically and there has only been one person killed in a pursuit since the change.

“As police officers, we are issued weapons and we have bullets in them and we use them in situations where we are put in a position to use deadly force,” Miller said. “A vehicle is no less deadly in an incident that causes harm to someone.”

Yet, many law enforcement agencies won’t change their policies, under pressure from officers who believe not chasing lets bad guys go free.

Chief Miller adopted the Dallas police chase policy at DISD. He says the risk of catching minor offenders isn’t worth the risk to public safety.

Yesterday, Mesquite police chased after suspects accused of credit card fraud at a hotel. Those suspects then crashed into a school bus full of elementary students.

Luckily, no children were hurt.

Mesquite Police Chief Charles Cato did not return our phone calls or messages Friday. We wanted to ask him if he would take a look at changing the department’s policy to match the Dallas Police Department’s.

Copyright 2016 WFAA

Reposted from WFAA by Rebecca Lopez

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Chase ends when suspects hit school bus in Dallas

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DALLAS — A police pursuit ended Thursday afternoon when the suspects’ vehicle crashed into a school bus in northeast Dallas.

The chase began at a Fairfield Inn and Suites on the 4000 block of Towne Crossing Boulevard in Mesquite around 2:15 p.m., police said. A Mesquite police spokesperson said Thursday night the suspects were wanted for credit card fraud at the hotel.

The suspects, who have not been identified, crashed into a Dallas ISD school bus near the intersection of Skillman Street and Abrams Road in Dallas around 3:15 p.m.

“I was scared and I jumped out of my seat,” said fourth grader Pauvan Mung.

Two male suspects were apprehended at the scene and a female suspect was arrested later at the hotel.

There were approximately 60 children on the school bus, according to the company that operates the school district’s buses. No injuries were reported.

“We were turning left, and then the car was at maximum speed,” said fifth grader Kimberly Arreola. She says a red car hit the back left corner of the bus.

The school bus came from Hotchkiss Elementary. A different bus was sent to pick up the children and complete the route.

“We didn’t know what was happening, so the bus driver stopped and went outside and it was, like, an accident,” Mung said.

Many say it is amazing no children were hurt, but plenty were shaken and upset as they waited for their nervous parents to come pick them up. The story behind this crash was no source of comfort.

Mesquite police say staff at the Fairfield Inn at I-30 and 635 called Thursday after 2 p.m. about a group of people using a stolen credit card. When officers arrived, two suspects drove off in a red car, starting the chase that lead them to northwest Dallas. That pair was arrested after the crash, and a third suspect was handcuffed back at the hotel hours later.

By then, at the scene, the crash had been cleared and the kids had calmed down.

“I think it’s okay,” Mung said. “We are safe.”

But it’ll likely be a restless night for many of their parents, left wondering if this chase that risked their kids lives was worth it.

News 8 has filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the Mesquite Police Department for a copy of their policy on police chases.

Copyright 2016 WFAA

Reposted from  WFAA

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1 hour, 18-wheeler pursuit in Texas

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NORTH TEXAS (CBSDFW.COM) – Police from several departments and troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) chased the driver of an 18-wheeler for more than an hour and ultimately ended a standoff peacefully.

The chase began in the Garland area, went into Rockwall County, and at lunchtime was on the Interstate-30 service road in Royse City.

There were more than two-dozen squad cars behind the semi stopped after the service road came to a dead end in the city of Greenville, on the I-30 service road at Highway 67, just before Lee Street.

The standoff took a turn after nearly an hour of the truck being stopped, when an armored vehicle arrived at the scene and was able to pull up directly beside the cab of the semi.

Former SWAT commander Mark Herrera said, “Basically what they’re trying to do is establish a line of negotiation with the driver of the truck.”

Herrera says the move is generally only made under certain circumstances.

“Time is basically on the side of law enforcement, especially if they’ve determined that there is no type of a hostage situation or no imminent threat.”

After sitting beside the truck for several minutes the armored vehicle moved and positioned in front of the semi. An officer then came out of the roof of the armored vehicle and fired two shots, of what appeared to be tear gas, through the windshield and into the vehicle.

A couple of minutes after firing the shots into the truck, the passenger side door of the semi opened and a dog ran out. Less than a minute later a man appeared at the opened cab door and SWAT officers pulled him out onto the ground.

At some point SWAT members appeared to put some type of drops in the suspect’s eyes, or flush his face with liquid, presumably to help with the effects of the tear gas.

Law enforcement officials had taken up positions along the frontage road and the highway. Traffic freely moved traffic in the westbound lanes of I-30, from the air vehicles on the eastbound side sat motionless, backed up for miles.

The standoff took a turn after nearly an hour of the truck being stopped, when an armored vehicle arrived at the scene and was able to pull up directly beside the cab of the semi.

Former SWAT commander Mark Herrera said, “Basically what they’re trying to do is establish a line of negotiation with the driver of the truck.”

Herrera says the move is generally only made under certain circumstances.

“Time is basically on the side of law enforcement, especially if they’ve determined that there is no type of a hostage situation or no imminent threat.”

While the chase was on the service road in Royse City law enforcement was limiting traffic near the truck and blocking some exits as the semi crossed near.

It appeared that several of the tires on the semi had been damaged as the truck lumbered thorough Hunt County.

The truck, that has Intrade Industries on the side of the trailer, had been reported stolen. Officials with the company have said they aren’t sure where the assigned driver of the semi is, so it’s unclear who is behind the wheel of the semi.

Chopper 11 followed the chase from the air and remains at the scene during the standoff.

This is s developing story and will be updated as information become available.

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Innocent motorist killed in stolen vehicle pursuit

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A police chase ended in a head-on collision between the pursued van and a pickup truck that left both drivers dead Friday afternoon in Ellis County.

The Midlothian Police Department said in a press release that officers were pursuing a van stolen Friday from a Waxahachie construction site when it veered across a median on U.S. 287 near Midlothian, slammed head-on into the oncoming truck and burst into flames.

The innocent driver of the truck was Garrett Blake Tolliver. He was 18 and from Morgan.

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Texas teen killed by wrong-way driver fleeing police

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MIDLOTHIAN — A chase involving a vehicle theft suspect and multiple law enforcement agencies ended in a fatal crash Friday afternoon near Midlothian, killing that suspect and an innocent motorist.

Ellis County sheriff’s deputies and Waxahachie police officers pursued  the suspect — who was driving a stolen van — from Waxahachie to Midlothian.

The suspect was traveling northbound in the southbound lanes of Highway 287 and struck a pickup truck head-on, according to the Ellis County Sheriff’s Office.

The van was charred after bursting into flames.

According to posts on Garrett Tolliver’s Facebook page, he had been driving home to Bosque County to see his mother and girlfriend after work when the van plowed into his pickup truck. A family friend started a GoFundMe account to raise money for the 18-year-old’s funeral.

The name of the suspect has not been released.

The van was reported to have been stolen from an Academy Sports and Outdoors parking lot in Waxahachie around 1 p.m. Friday. Officers were tipped off to the van’s location by a GPS signal from the van.

During the police pursuit, which began at 1:12 p.m., the suspect “ran one patrol officer off of the roadway” on FM 879, Ellis County authorities said. That officer was uninjured.

Eastbound traffic was diverted between Plainview and Walnut Grove roads near the scene of the fatal crash, according to the City of Midlothian.

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