Cop runs red light, causes fatal accident - found not guilty

[Crusty]

I can see reading comprehension is strong with the ATOT crowd.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: waggy
if a cop is going to blow a red light he should have lights and siren going. unless it may put someones life in jeopardy



even in this one she blew a yello. if she/he is going to blow anything they should still have them on. but why was she doign it for a fuckign shoplifteR?

Heh heh... Beavis, did he just say that?

 

[mugs]

I'm curious why there are different accounts on what type of call she was responding to. Shoplifting and a fight in an area with gang activity are quite different.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: mugs
I'm curious why there are different accounts on what type of call she was responding to. Shoplifting and a fight in an area with gang activity are quite different.

Shoplifting and a fight in an area with gang activity could be easily related. Just out of high school I worked as loss prevention at the Home Depot. The Home Depot that I worked out was in an area with gang activity, and when I would apprehend a shop lifter if very regularly turned into a fight. A couple of examples, all separate instances, I stopped someone with a knife, someone with a razorblade, some crackhead that had aids, a group of people that tried to get away by jumping on the roof of a speeding car and almost running over our store manager, etc...

Those were all classified as simple "shoplifting calls". Sorry folks, the world's not as black and white as some of you (this is not directed at you mugs) try and make it out to be.

 

[JD50]

Originally posted by: darrontrask
She was responding to a shoplifting call! Give me a break. Why the sense of urgency, was it a dunkin donuts!

See my post just above this one. Get out of the basement for a day or two and you'll realize that the world is not all black and white. 😛

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: wischeez
Link for tk149

Link:http://www.iupa.org/index.php?...=view&id=174&Itemid=80

Thank you, wischeez.
Keep in mind that IUPA is not an unbiased source. I'm not saying that their version of the story is incorrect, but...

Just before 6:00 PM on that fateful evening, she was assigned a "fight" call a few miles away. She and another unit responded. It was misting and traffic was moderate in the direction she was traveling. Her overhead lights were on, but she was not sounding her siren. As she entered the intersection, a car crossed directly in front of her. The resulting collision threw the civilian driver from her car. The victim, 33 year-old assistant schoolteacher Ashley McIntosh, died a short time later.

IMO, based on the video (which is admittedly crappy), it's not "misting," its raining. I think the article is trying to spin the weather to justify the officer's high speed. Plus one of Flatscan's article says that the weather was just turning to sleet.

The local police and IUPA have a vested interest in spinning this case. The victim's family (and the media) also have an interest in spinning this case.

I maintain that the officer drove recklessly for inadequate reason. She was afraid that the other officer would arrive alone? She could have called the other officer and told him/her to slow down, instead, she sped up.

There were two fools involved here, and one of them died. But that doesn't exonerate the other one. If not for BOTH of their actions, there would not have been a fatal collison.

Let's take a possible scenario: The victim is in the left-turn lane, sees the left-turn arrow turn green (as mentioned in Flatscan's link here), sees no oncoming car in the oncoming left-turn lane and sees no traffic coming from the left or right (remember, the officer's car is moving fast, and is not anywhere near the intersection when the victim decides to go). She changes her mind about turning and accelerates quickly forward intending to go straight through the intersection. She doesn't hear a siren, and has no reason to believe that there is anything unusual about this traffic light.

'Cuz, you know, you'd kind of expect to hear a siren if an emergency vehicle like an ambulance or police car was to come barreling through a red light at 40+ MPH.

From Flatscan's article, an eyewitness said "To us, it appeared it was an avoidable accident," Jackson said. "If the police officer had put on her brakes or used her siren, perhaps it would have been a different scenario."

"Fairfax Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Robert D. McClain said McIntosh's driving didn't matter; her light was green. Perry's was red. "

"The driver behind McIntosh testified that she did not see the officer until just before the crash. "

I wasn't at the trial, and I didn't hear the testimony. But based on the available evidence so far, I think that the officer should have been punished.

Keep in mind that the county prosecutor brought this case to court. Somebody thought that the case had merit.

Why the f*** didn't the officer turn on her siren before getting up to high speed?
The victim could just as easily have been a mother pushing a baby carriage into the intersection. Flip one lousy switch and everything could have been different.

 

[tk149]

Originally posted by: ICRS
If she turned left instead of going straight, the cop wouldn't have hit her. She broke the law by going straight. At 99% of the lights I have seen if a left turn only lane has a green, then the straight ones have a red, so I can say she likely did run a red light as well.

I have seen many traffic lights where if the green arrow is on, the straight lanes have a green light. Usually in intersections where the oncoming traffic is lighter, so oncoming traffic has a shorter left-turn light or none at all.

One of Flatscan's articles says that she had a green arrow. The cop had a red light.
Text

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
Anybody have proof she wasn't wearing her seatbelt?

Also a 50MPH side-impact collision, especially with a police cruiser that has a reinforced front bumper, would produce severe trauma regardless. There is no evidence that the woman who died would have survived that kind of extreme trauma even if she wasn't ejected from her car.

From TFA:

"Her speed at impact was estimated at 26 MPH"

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
This cop was a stupid sack of shit.

Shoplifting call? Non-emergency.

Speeding through a red-light intersection at 50MPH without a siren for a non-emergency call? Certified idiot.

Another cop getting a "get out of jail free card"? Not surprising.

Thanks for delivering. :thumbsup:

 

[Dessert Tears]

Originally posted by: JD50

Originally posted by: mugs
I'm curious why there are different accounts on what type of call she was responding to. Shoplifting and a fight in an area with gang activity are quite different.

Shoplifting and a fight in an area with gang activity could be easily related. Just out of high school I worked as loss prevention at the Home Depot. The Home Depot that I worked out was in an area with gang activity, and when I would apprehend a shop lifter if very regularly turned into a fight. A couple of examples, all separate instances, I stopped someone with a knife, someone with a razorblade, some crackhead that had aids, a group of people that tried to get away by jumping on the roof of a speeding car and almost running over our store manager, etc...

Those were all classified as simple "shoplifting calls". Sorry folks, the world's not as black and white as some of you (this is not directed at you mugs) try and make it out to be.

The first (Feb 15) Washington Post article I found says "a call involving a shoplifter and a fight", while the two follow-up articles mention a "fight in progress" only. I read a post elsewhere that claimed that the shoplifting developed into the fight, as in JD50's anecdotes, but the post wasn't particularly credible.

 

[Dessert Tears]

I looked up the intersection on Google Maps: Route 1 and Boswell Avenue.