Deadly Police Chases

"How many deaths before it's not okay?"
Candy Priano's opinion article in The Conservative Voice..

Our Nation's Innocent Victims
Read about some of the victims in your state by clicking here.

CodyCody Morrison

Stories Behind the Tragedies

Two Mothers Taken
April 6, 2010

There they were, late Tuesday morning, two young working moms on their way to lunch,
in a car at a stoplight on Albuquerque's west side, ...

Kimberly Aragon NunezspacerspacerspacerspacerKim and Janice

Family of fatal Oakland crash victim 'shocked and devastated'
August 26, 2009, Oakland, CA — Marquita Bosley, 25, of Pittsburg. was killed and her son, Nai'ere, was critically injured.

Jeanette Bowie, Bosley's aunt, said Bosley had left her house in Oakland on Wednesday evening to take Nai'ere to see his father — just before the fatal crash.

"She always put him first. Always!" said Casey, looking at pictures of Bosley and Nai'ere.

"She always made sure he looked good for church," said Bosley's sister Tania Pierce, looking at one picture of Nai'ere in slacks, a white button-down shirt and a blue checkered sweater vest.

Read more stories, click here.

Marquita Bosley

 

Miriam Avraham

5 Children Killed
Over a Traffic Violation
August 8, 2009, Dinuba, CA — Carlos and Jennifer Salazar had piled their five children into their pickup truck and were headed to a children's PeeWee football carnival Saturday when a speeding car came out nowhere. (AP, Aug 11, 2009)

Read more stories, click here.

 

Victims Philadelphia Tragedy

3 Children and a Mom Killed in Philadelphia
June 11, 2009, Philadelphia, PA—Three children and a mother are dead after a car jumped a curb and plowed into a crowd of people. Authorities say the driver of the car was fleeing police. Later, the Philadelphia police department issued a statement saying the incident was not a chase. Additional coverage of this Philadelphia Tragedy.

 

Miriam Avraham
Vos Iz Neias?

10-year-old Miriam Avraham killed
for a piece of property
October 16, 2008, New Milford, NJ: Miriam’s mother, Helene Avraham (holding Miriam's picture), burst into tears outside her Fair Lawn home as she described her
daughter, a popular sixth-grader at the Solomon Schechter Day School in New Milford, as a joyful, well-rounded student whose vivacious personality could “fill up a room.” Avraham’s 14-year-old son Shachar, his voice cracking, said Miriam was his best friend. “We’re going to miss her so much,” he said.
Hours before she died Thursday, Miriam had been ecstatic to learn she won the lead part of Golde in an upcoming school production of Fiddler on the Roof.

Read more stories, click here.

Police chase ends in deadly rush hour crash
August 19, 2008, Palmer Township, PA: The man was fleeing officers after he stole a vacuum cleaner from a mall, police said. Jolene LaBar, 31, of Washington Township, N.J., was killed in the head-on collision. She was married three months ago and told her family this week that she was pregnant."You don't chase somebody down the wrong way of a ramp over a vacuum cleaner," said John Murphy, LaBar's father. "It's absurd, you just back off."

 JoleneLaBar

Martin Padilla

Martin Padilla remembered as devoted college employee
August 28, 2008, Pinole, CA: "Martin Padilla was extremely passionate about what he did," Contra Costa College President McKinley Williams said. "He did so much above and beyond the call of duty and will be remembered as a humble man. He loved serving people." During the day, Padilla, who held a master's degree in disability rehabilitation services, mentored disabled students, Williams said. Padilla's widow, Nanette Barce-Padilla, 50, expressed anger that sheriff's deputies hadn't broken off the chase for a known parolee in a stolen car. "If they have a police chase, it's not worth trying to catch the person because it kills innocent people," Barce-Padilla said. "That's not the first time that stuff like this has happened."

 

New York: Scott Foster, 46, husband and father of three. Long Island officer knew the suspect's identity and chased him because he was wanted on suspicion of stealing landscaping equipment, May 8, 2008.

Minnesota: Hanna Abukar, 26, wife & mother driving to Sunday School. Mom dies, children hurt, April 6, 2008.

Georgia: Patricia Griffin, 21, Braselton officer chased a driver for speeding, March 2, 2008.

Georgia: Laura Latimer, 42, mother of three. From the police scanner: The sergeant twice tells Deputy Anthony Gregory to "break off" the chase through downtown Augusta. Deputy Gregory continues the chase, initiated when the teenage driver fled from a traffic stop, March 1, 2008.

New York: Mr. Lindsay Burton, 23. New York police officers chased a suspect in a stolen car, February 28, 2008.

Maryland: Beatrice Omoro, 32, wife and mother. Montgomery County police chased a driver because the car's headlights were off, February 13, 2008.

Georgia: Joanna Joy Ringer, 21. Columbus police say it started with a stolen vehicle and ended with a fatal crash. Joanna was a sergeant in the U.S. Army on active duty, February 7, 2008.

Tributes to Our Loved Ones

Safety Speaks

Mark and Denise Morrison, the parents of Cody Morrison (pictured above, second from right) wrote the following: "Our 22-year-old son was killed during a police pursuit [to catch a suspected drunken driver] in Scottsdale, AZ, on April 7, 2005. The City found five of their officers acted out of policy, when they failed to terminate the pursuit."