Bill Targets Fleeing Drivers in Police Pursuits

The sight of suspects brazenly fleeing police in televised high-speed chases has always distressed Fountain Valley Councilman Guy Carrozzo. So much so, that he spent the past 27 months writing to lawmakers for help.

Carrozzo and Fountain Valley Police Chief Elvin G. Miali got the ear of Assemblyman Jim Morrissey (R-Santa Ana), who has drafted a bill that would make it a felony to flee in a vehicle from a police officer, and would substantially stiffen sentences for anyone who injures or kills someone while fleeing the law.

The “failure to stop” bill goes to the Assembly Public Safety Committee next Tuesday, on the heels of a high-speed chase Monday that ended in Los Angeles County when a truckload of suspected illegal immigrants pulled off the freeway. Two Riverside County sheriff’s deputies were captured on videotape striking two of the people they had been pursuing at high speeds for miles.

“The only thing I’ll say is that emotions run very, very high during high-speed pursuits,” Fullerton Police Chief Patrick E. McKinley said of the videotaped assault. “Any way that we, as chiefs, can reduce the number of pursuits and, therefore, the physical as well as emotional toll caused by them, then we’re taking a giant step forward.”

The bill also comes in the wake of three high-speed Orange County police chases that resulted in five fatalities in December and January--one involving Fountain Valley police.

“This is a bill that can protect the public and save lives. With the passage of this legislation, we can significantly reduce the number of deaths,” Carrozzo said. “As a misdemeanor, nobody pays any attention to it. They think outrunning the police is a sport.”

Morrissey said increasing the penalty for fleeing will send a message, particularly to flippant youths and suspects on the run because of minor infractions.

“If they only have a couple of traffic warrants out for their arrest, and those are misdemeanors, I don’t think they’re going to create a felony just to flee from a misdemeanor,” Morrissey said.

But some experts say upping the stakes could accomplish just the opposite--encouraging suspects to continue fleeing once they’ve started, and encouraging the officers to keep up the pursuit.

“It just gives cops more reason to chase,” said Geoffrey Alpert, a criminologist at the University of South Carolina and one of the nation’s foremost critics of high-speed chases.

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Alpert is conducting a study of chase policies across the country. Of 22 states surveyed so far, only two--Tennessee and Arizona--have made it a felony to flee an officer, he said.

“It makes it a felony and makes the police think they need to go catch this person, and does not give any thought to the other problems--such as accidents and injuries and deaths,” he said.

Someone who flees in a moment of irrational frenzy might do more to avoid getting caught if the penalty is higher, Alpert added.

“You need to think about the consequences,” he said. “Are you just making it a reason for people to escape?”

Law enforcement officials stress that most vehicle stops are carried out peacefully. Of an estimated 9 million vehicle stops by all police agencies in California in 1993, 7,781 led to pursuits, according to California Highway Patrol officials. That figure represents less than one-tenth of 1%.

Thirty pursuits ended in fatal collisions, killing 38 people, in 1993, the most complete recent statistics. Eight of those people were innocent bystanders or motorists.

The most recent such accident in Orange County occurred New Year’s Eve, killing nationally ranked boxer Ernesto Magdaleno, who was considered a contender for the World Boxing Council’s light-heavyweight title.

Magdaleno’s Jeep Cherokee was hit by a suspect fleeing Fountain Valley police.

An officer had been chasing 19-year-old John Kenneth Bandola Jr. of Cypress and a companion after receiving reports that the pair had stolen camera gear. Magdaleno flew from his vehicle, struck his head on a concrete median and died. Bandola was also killed in the crash.

Magdaleno’s wife and two children suffered minor injuries and are now suing the city, the police and the Jeep manufacturer.

Several days later, two suspected car thieves led Fullerton police on a high-speed chase and died when their car struck a light pole. And earlier in December, a man fleeing Costa Mesa police died when his car slammed into a concrete wall.

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Carrozzo--who began his quest long before the recent tragedies--said each new case hardens his resolve.

“My heart’s in my mouth every time I see it,” he said. “I’ve been watching people on television and how, without any remorse, they fly through intersections. I have four grandchildren and it just pained me to see that happening, thinking they could just wipe out a family, just wipe them out.”

Miali said the proposed legislation will give officers an “extra tool out in the street in our efforts to protect the safety of innocent citizens.”

The bill mandates a state prison sentence of seven to nine years for anyone who causes “serious bodily injury” to another person while fleeing a peace officer. If the chase ends in a death, the motorist who eluded police would face second-degree murder charges.

“We need to put more consequences in fleeing from police,” Chief McKinley said. “Officers want to avoid that also. Going 100 miles an hour down the road is very stressful for them as well.”

Morrissey said he acted promptly on Carrozzo’s request because the issue had been bothering him for years.

“We have been seeing this on television for years now and it’s getting worse,” he said. “You can see where many, many people are running away from the police and they’re injuring and killing people in the process.”

Times staff writer Thao Hua contributed to this report.