NBC29Police Dash Camera Video Released
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The video from an August high speed chase in Charlottesville is out. What's in the video is raising questions about whether the police officer acted correctly.
Who can forget the story of the car careening over a guardrail and through the roof of a house last summer? The chase reached speeds above 80 miles per hour.
The question is: was the officer even going by the book by chasing after the suspect? Three months later, Charlottesville Police Chief Tim Longo is standing by his officer.
The chase on Rugby Road hit 85 miles an hour, that's 60 miles an hour over the speed limit. It started as an attempted traffic stop on University Avenue, but the suspect fled.
Longo stated, “By the time the suspect vehicle got onto Rugby Road, he had already created a significant distance between him and the officer, some half mile distance that the officer was never, despite his best efforts, able to close.”
The chase has brought up questions about policy, and the risks. Chief Tim Longo says the officer acted reasonably by pursuing based on the facts he had.
Chief Longo said, “We’re talking about 2:30 in the morning when the road conditions were dry, when there were few, if any pedestrians or vehicles on the street and the officer made an attempt to stop the reckless behavior of the suspect.”
Police pursuits are becoming more common in Charlottesville and they've opened a few eyes. Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman stated, “The elevation of alluding as a law enforcement issue and type of criminal behavior that has the attention of judges in a way that it hasn't historically.”
Nura Yingling and her husband own the house that was damaged. She says it offered a few teachable moments; “If there is something to be learned about the safety of high speed chases in neighborhoods, I would hope that we would learn that lesson and move forward without blame or anger, particularly for the police that work so hard in our community.”
Police did arrest a suspect in the chase, 17-year-old Tsaye Simpson will be tried as an adult in Charlottesville Circuit Court. He's also accused of breaking into a house and stealing the car.
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