Altima owner robs bank in East Valley and Crashes into white Supra
12-06-07, 10:32 AM
#23
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Altima owner robs bank in East Valley and Crashes into white Supra
http://www.supraforums.com/forum/sho...=467727&page=2
Video is distubing
Video
Story
Two people were killed when a police pursuit of a suspected bank robber, carried live on TV, ended in a head-on collision on the Salt River Reservation Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect barreled into a white Toyota Supra. No passengers were in either vehicle.
"This is tragic," Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Tim Mason said. "You can't get around that."
The suspect is believed to be the same man wanted for three attempted bank robberies in the East Valley - the Nov. 20 robbery of a Chandler Washington Mutual and the Nov. 24 and Dec. 3 robberies of a Chandler Wachovia, police said.
The chase began after the armed man held up a Bank of America near McClintock Drive and Warner Road in Tempe around 1:50 p.m., police said. The man entered the bank, pointed a handgun at several customers and tellers and demanded money, police said. He then fled with an undisclosed amount of money.
Witnesses described to police the sedan driven by the suspect, a gray Nissan Altima. Police found the man near Baseline Road and Country Club Drive in Mesa. Officers tried to stop the gunman, but he fled again, leading police through several East Valley cities.
At one point, DPS officers threw out tire deflation devices on northbound Loop 101 near Elliot Road, but the driver swerved to the right, missing them.
At the time of the crash, DPS and Chandler police officers were trailing the car, officials said. According to police, the suspect exited and got back onto the freeway several times.
The suspect then exited northbound Loop 101 at McKellips Road and headed east, where he slammed into the Toyota at what appeared to be a high speed.
TV viewers of at least one channel got a close-up view as the suspect's vehicle swerved into the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into the Toyota. The names of those involved were not available Wednesday night.
Tom Bell, news director of Channel 5, said he decided not to show the graphic video on evening newscasts Wednesday night.
"The crash was tragic. While it occurred live, we moved away from the images of the impact moments after it happened," Bell wrote in a statement.
Channel 15 also had video of the crash on its Web site, but their video was from a different angle and was not as zoomed in as that of Channel 5.
Channel 12 said it showed video of the police pursuit but not the crash.
DPS Cmdr. Tom Woodward declined to estimate how fast the Altima or patrols were going. Video footage of the pursuit shows officers were some distance from the cars. Police reported losing visual contact with the vehicle at some points. DPS officials would not say how close patrol cars got to the Altima throughout the pursuit. Speed and the fact that the chase occurred in a populated area factors into the DPS pursuit policy, but those are not sole determinants, Woodward said.
Mason said DPS chose to chase "a violent, fleeing felon when we're able to safely."
"We don't create these situations," he said. "We do everything we can to avoid it."
Reporters Cyrus Karimi, Jim Walsh, Senta Scarborough and Dave Seibert contributed to this article.
Video is distubing
Video
Story
Two people were killed when a police pursuit of a suspected bank robber, carried live on TV, ended in a head-on collision on the Salt River Reservation Wednesday afternoon.
The suspect barreled into a white Toyota Supra. No passengers were in either vehicle.
"This is tragic," Department of Public Safety spokesman Sgt. Tim Mason said. "You can't get around that."
The suspect is believed to be the same man wanted for three attempted bank robberies in the East Valley - the Nov. 20 robbery of a Chandler Washington Mutual and the Nov. 24 and Dec. 3 robberies of a Chandler Wachovia, police said.
The chase began after the armed man held up a Bank of America near McClintock Drive and Warner Road in Tempe around 1:50 p.m., police said. The man entered the bank, pointed a handgun at several customers and tellers and demanded money, police said. He then fled with an undisclosed amount of money.
Witnesses described to police the sedan driven by the suspect, a gray Nissan Altima. Police found the man near Baseline Road and Country Club Drive in Mesa. Officers tried to stop the gunman, but he fled again, leading police through several East Valley cities.
At one point, DPS officers threw out tire deflation devices on northbound Loop 101 near Elliot Road, but the driver swerved to the right, missing them.
At the time of the crash, DPS and Chandler police officers were trailing the car, officials said. According to police, the suspect exited and got back onto the freeway several times.
The suspect then exited northbound Loop 101 at McKellips Road and headed east, where he slammed into the Toyota at what appeared to be a high speed.
TV viewers of at least one channel got a close-up view as the suspect's vehicle swerved into the oncoming lane and crashed head-on into the Toyota. The names of those involved were not available Wednesday night.
Tom Bell, news director of Channel 5, said he decided not to show the graphic video on evening newscasts Wednesday night.
"The crash was tragic. While it occurred live, we moved away from the images of the impact moments after it happened," Bell wrote in a statement.
Channel 15 also had video of the crash on its Web site, but their video was from a different angle and was not as zoomed in as that of Channel 5.
Channel 12 said it showed video of the police pursuit but not the crash.
DPS Cmdr. Tom Woodward declined to estimate how fast the Altima or patrols were going. Video footage of the pursuit shows officers were some distance from the cars. Police reported losing visual contact with the vehicle at some points. DPS officials would not say how close patrol cars got to the Altima throughout the pursuit. Speed and the fact that the chase occurred in a populated area factors into the DPS pursuit policy, but those are not sole determinants, Woodward said.
Mason said DPS chose to chase "a violent, fleeing felon when we're able to safely."
"We don't create these situations," he said. "We do everything we can to avoid it."
Reporters Cyrus Karimi, Jim Walsh, Senta Scarborough and Dave Seibert contributed to this article.
12-06-07, 10:37 AM
#25
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http://youtube.com/watch?v=ClnZWx1J71U
New vid, you can see teh Supra owner slam on the brakes. he had no chance
New vid, you can see teh Supra owner slam on the brakes. he had no chance
12-06-07, 10:48 AM
#27
Bigger vid so you don't have to strain your eyes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57spvZaFrM8
What's crazy to think of all the events that went into these two souls meeting up at that exact time... The driver of the Supra may have left his house a few minutes earlier than usual to get to work... Could have decided to go out for lunch rather than brown bag it at work... Then this... Man... tragic story.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57spvZaFrM8
What's crazy to think of all the events that went into these two souls meeting up at that exact time... The driver of the Supra may have left his house a few minutes earlier than usual to get to work... Could have decided to go out for lunch rather than brown bag it at work... Then this... Man... tragic story.
12-06-07, 10:53 AM
#28
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I almost cried when I saw this video on the news last night. It's so *****ty that someone has to die because another person is being a moron. My heart goes out to that person's family 
