After Chase, Florida Sheriff Suspends 13 Officers
#1
After Chase, Florida Sheriff Suspends 13 Officers
There has got to be some video of this somewhere out there:
Story
It sounds like a classic scene from The Dukes of Hazzard:
A dozen deputies, lights flashing and sirens blaring, driving in circles for 15 miles as they chase a suspect in a stolen sports car at speeds reaching 117 mph.
One sheriff's cruiser skids out on a patch of sand, colliding with an oncoming vehicle. Another blows a tire and pulls out of the chase. Two deputies, blinded by the dust kicked up by the stolen car on a lime rock road, crash cruisers through a T-stop intersection. One drives through a fence, the other hits a dirt berm and goes airborne.
Except, this script is real. And Sheriff Richard Nugent is not amused.
The sheriff suspended without pay a sergeant and 12 deputies involved in the 6 p.m. Thursday pursuit through Spring Hill and Royal Highlands. He said the risks "way outweighed" the possibility for arrest, especially because the incident only involved a stolen car and the deputies involved knew the culprit. The deputies violated multiple elements of the agency's pursuit policy and endangered many area residents, he said.
Each deputy has read and signed the pursuit policy. The latest memo went to all deputies a week before this incident.
"We are not going to tolerate it," Nugent said during an interview in his office Tuesday. "We are not going to allow our folks to jeopardize the safety of civilians out there."
He called it a "breakdown in supervision" and placed the bulk of the blame on Sgt. Frank Loreto, who oversaw the chase and got a five-day suspension.
Loreto wrote in a newly released report that he didn't believe the deputies violated any pursuit policies. He permitted the chase to continue despite knowing about the high speeds and moderate traffic on the roads.
Four deputies were suspended for multiple days, while the eight remaining deputies who provided backup assistance were each given a one-day suspension.
"They got caught up in the moment," he said. "When the adrenaline gets pumping you tend to forget, you get tunnel-vision ...."
The incident involved busy roads including Mariner Boulevard and Sunshine Grove Road and ended in the Royal Highlands area where the driver, Roy Reffuse of Dade City, crashed his red sports car.
Reffuse, who admitted he was high on methamphetamine, hitched a ride with a neighbor but was caught at a checkpoint established near the scene, reports said.
The three deputies who wrecked their patrol cars could face additional sanctions from an internal review board that will convene in early January. All have previous accidents in patrol cruisers, internal Sheriff's Office records show:
- Deputy George Loydgren, 44, who initiated the chase after seeing the stolen Mazda 6 and later crashed and went airborne, was involved in two preventable accidents, one in December 2005 and one in August 2007.
-Deputy Christopher Croft, 33, who crashed through a fence at the intersection, was involved in a non-preventable accident in November 2005.
-Deputy Derik Deso, 28, who hit an oncoming Lexus SUV, was involved in an August 2002 traffic crash.
Nugent said he personally reviewed the data on the chase and met with the entire group Tuesday to express "how disappointed I am in their actions." The agency intends to pay to repair the damaged Lexus and to replace the broken fence.
"The way I explained it to our guys is: Is it worth your life or the life of one of your family members to catch some guy who stole a car?" he said. "And everyone of them shook their head no."
Nugent asserted that the chase was atypical for the agency. "The majority of pursuits are terminated immediately," he said. "This is so far out of the norm. That's why it took some extreme measures."
The sheriff said he is not recommending further agencywide training on pursuits because "we have done almost everything humanly possible as it relates to pursuits and controlling them."
He said there are few, if any, circumstances to continue chases, such as murder, bank robberies or other violent crimes. "You can't say never on pursuits," he said, "but you have to be able to justify it."
A dozen deputies, lights flashing and sirens blaring, driving in circles for 15 miles as they chase a suspect in a stolen sports car at speeds reaching 117 mph.
One sheriff's cruiser skids out on a patch of sand, colliding with an oncoming vehicle. Another blows a tire and pulls out of the chase. Two deputies, blinded by the dust kicked up by the stolen car on a lime rock road, crash cruisers through a T-stop intersection. One drives through a fence, the other hits a dirt berm and goes airborne.
Except, this script is real. And Sheriff Richard Nugent is not amused.
The sheriff suspended without pay a sergeant and 12 deputies involved in the 6 p.m. Thursday pursuit through Spring Hill and Royal Highlands. He said the risks "way outweighed" the possibility for arrest, especially because the incident only involved a stolen car and the deputies involved knew the culprit. The deputies violated multiple elements of the agency's pursuit policy and endangered many area residents, he said.
Each deputy has read and signed the pursuit policy. The latest memo went to all deputies a week before this incident.
"We are not going to tolerate it," Nugent said during an interview in his office Tuesday. "We are not going to allow our folks to jeopardize the safety of civilians out there."
He called it a "breakdown in supervision" and placed the bulk of the blame on Sgt. Frank Loreto, who oversaw the chase and got a five-day suspension.
Loreto wrote in a newly released report that he didn't believe the deputies violated any pursuit policies. He permitted the chase to continue despite knowing about the high speeds and moderate traffic on the roads.
Four deputies were suspended for multiple days, while the eight remaining deputies who provided backup assistance were each given a one-day suspension.
"They got caught up in the moment," he said. "When the adrenaline gets pumping you tend to forget, you get tunnel-vision ...."
The incident involved busy roads including Mariner Boulevard and Sunshine Grove Road and ended in the Royal Highlands area where the driver, Roy Reffuse of Dade City, crashed his red sports car.
Reffuse, who admitted he was high on methamphetamine, hitched a ride with a neighbor but was caught at a checkpoint established near the scene, reports said.
The three deputies who wrecked their patrol cars could face additional sanctions from an internal review board that will convene in early January. All have previous accidents in patrol cruisers, internal Sheriff's Office records show:
- Deputy George Loydgren, 44, who initiated the chase after seeing the stolen Mazda 6 and later crashed and went airborne, was involved in two preventable accidents, one in December 2005 and one in August 2007.
-Deputy Christopher Croft, 33, who crashed through a fence at the intersection, was involved in a non-preventable accident in November 2005.
-Deputy Derik Deso, 28, who hit an oncoming Lexus SUV, was involved in an August 2002 traffic crash.
Nugent said he personally reviewed the data on the chase and met with the entire group Tuesday to express "how disappointed I am in their actions." The agency intends to pay to repair the damaged Lexus and to replace the broken fence.
"The way I explained it to our guys is: Is it worth your life or the life of one of your family members to catch some guy who stole a car?" he said. "And everyone of them shook their head no."
Nugent asserted that the chase was atypical for the agency. "The majority of pursuits are terminated immediately," he said. "This is so far out of the norm. That's why it took some extreme measures."
The sheriff said he is not recommending further agencywide training on pursuits because "we have done almost everything humanly possible as it relates to pursuits and controlling them."
He said there are few, if any, circumstances to continue chases, such as murder, bank robberies or other violent crimes. "You can't say never on pursuits," he said, "but you have to be able to justify it."
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#10
Lexus Fanatic
A couple of things about this case disturb me, though. One is that the sheriff, who is actually doing the suspension, apparantly was not there to see things for himself, and is countermandering the combined judgements of thirteen fellow officers. Two, One against thirteen is not very good odds if those thirteen officers decide they are not going to accept the suspension and simply come back on duty. Who's going to FORCE them to stay away?.......a lone sheriff can't deal with all thirteen physically at once. Three, when you have a gulf this wide.......one against thirteen.......the police unions are bound to get involved, and that is going to be one lonely and intimidated sheriff.
So, in short, I'm not passing judgement on either side as to is right or wrong, but just by numbers alone, that sheriff may have bitten a lot more off than he can chew. You don't mess with thirteen guys at once.
So, in short, I'm not passing judgement on either side as to is right or wrong, but just by numbers alone, that sheriff may have bitten a lot more off than he can chew. You don't mess with thirteen guys at once.
#13
Lexus Test Driver
I have no problems with cops going on high-speed chases, but the key issue here is that they apparently (according to the sheriff) ID'd and had information on the suspect. If they could reasonably believe that they could apprehend the suspect later without having to pursue him, there's no point in endangering the public to chase.
#14
As said, there are three sides to every story....
Cops are going to get in accidents - sorry, they drive a lot at high speeds.
I personally don't want rules of them abandoning chases when the driver is behaving erratic. That tells the bad guys out there, just drive crazy and they will leave you alone.
I'd love to see some serious penalties for people that lead cops on chases like this - dare I say the death penalty? They certainly put a lot of people at risk including police officers and their jobs.
ps - yea, yea, yea... I know the death penalty supposedly does not reduce crime - but it might make some of us feel better.....
Cops are going to get in accidents - sorry, they drive a lot at high speeds.
I personally don't want rules of them abandoning chases when the driver is behaving erratic. That tells the bad guys out there, just drive crazy and they will leave you alone.
I'd love to see some serious penalties for people that lead cops on chases like this - dare I say the death penalty? They certainly put a lot of people at risk including police officers and their jobs.
ps - yea, yea, yea... I know the death penalty supposedly does not reduce crime - but it might make some of us feel better.....
#15
Lexus Test Driver
iTrader: (1)
As said, there are three sides to every story....
Cops are going to get in accidents - sorry, they drive a lot at high speeds.
I personally don't want rules of them abandoning chases when the driver is behaving erratic. That tells the bad guys out there, just drive crazy and they will leave you alone.
I'd love to see some serious penalties for people that lead cops on chases like this - dare I say the death penalty? They certainly put a lot of people at risk including police officers and their jobs.
ps - yea, yea, yea... I know the death penalty supposedly does not reduce crime - but it might make some of us feel better.....
Cops are going to get in accidents - sorry, they drive a lot at high speeds.
I personally don't want rules of them abandoning chases when the driver is behaving erratic. That tells the bad guys out there, just drive crazy and they will leave you alone.
I'd love to see some serious penalties for people that lead cops on chases like this - dare I say the death penalty? They certainly put a lot of people at risk including police officers and their jobs.
ps - yea, yea, yea... I know the death penalty supposedly does not reduce crime - but it might make some of us feel better.....
If you pay attention to how many innocent people are killed each year by police chases you might think different, a traffic violation or stolen car is not worth putting the public at risk, thus the reason most departments have such strict chase policies.