Deaths from high-speed police chases do not get as much media coverage as police shootings. However, when you are injured or a loved one dies, whether news outlets pay attention doesn’t really matter. What matters is grieving, healing and trying to figure out what happened.
A recent high-speed chase in Yonkers that ended with a police shooting combines the worst of these two scenarios. Another recent incident in East Flatbush ended with the suspect escaping when the police car jumped the curb and became stuck in the mud, damaging the vehicle, but causing no injuries.
Many police chases could become tragedies, but do not. For example, a murder suspect from Troy was chased by police onto the New Jersey Turnpike, where he went in the wrong direction. This could have killed him and others, but luckily did not, and he was stopped at a toll plaza. In another incident, a Montvale, New Jersey, officer was investigating a parked car in a rest area on the Garden State Parkway when the driver fled, ultimately crashing the car. No one was hurt.
However, some police chases do not have happy endings. For example, last September, a 3-year-old boy was hit and killed during a police chase in Newark while he was standing on the sidewalk with his mother. In another case, several teens suspected of carjacking and other crimes had taken a Jaguar and were being chased by officers in Newark. When the police vehicle rammed the stolen car, the suspects, most of whom appeared to be juveniles, left the Jaguar and one of them was hit and killed by the police vehicle.
Fortunately, it is difficult to engage in high-speed chases within the borders of New York City, although it does occur. It is more likely to happen in the outer boroughs, where streets are less congested. A Google search shows that many high-speed police chases occur in less populated areas of upstate New York or in New Jersey. The injured and the families of those who died in car crashes resulting from a police chase by should seek assistance from a New York personal injury lawyer to find out about their rights.
Sources:
ABC News
Fire Engineering