BY THE NUMBERS
Ohio/U.S. deaths to innocent third parties involved in police vehicular pursuits
2008: Ohio 11; U.S 96
2009: Ohio 7; U.S. 117
2010: Ohio 7; U.S. 128
2011: Ohio 9; U.S. 100
2012: Ohio 5; 120
2013: Ohio 0; 117
2014: Ohio 8; 112
2015-16: Data not yet available
Note: Includes occupants of third-party vehicles and non-occupants such as pedestrians. The numbers do not include police officers or suspects killed in chases.
Source: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
Recent regional fatalities after suspects fled police
March 17, 2016: 50-year-old Marcus Harper of Xenia was killed when his car was hit by a allegedly stolen car driven by Kyndra J. Shackelford, who faces vehicular manslaughter charges in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court.
Oct. 15, 2015: Shannon Gonzalez, 37, Springfield, died after she was struck by a car driven by Raymone West. West allegedly sped away from a traffic stop by an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper. West is scheduled to go to trial in Clark County Common Pleas Court in September on charges including vehicular manslaughter.
Nov. 16, 2014: Tommy C. David, 44, of Middletown died in Monroe after a multi-jurisdictional chase. David's vehicle went off of Ohio 63, went down a hillside and struck a fence and a tree.
July 24, 2014: 27-year-old Agyasi Ector was killed while walking to work in Trotwood. Aaron T. Johnson crossed the center line fleeing Trotwood officers. The chase reached speeds of 103 mph. Johnson was sentenced to 16 years in prison.
June 24, 2014: 12-year-old Kayla Mongold of Springfield died when she was walking with a friend and was hit by a car driven by Joseph Thomson, who had fled from police who tried to stop him for speeding. Thomson was sentenced to 12 years in prison.
July 11, 2011: Lebanon grade school teacher Pamela Argabrite was struck by suspect Andrew Barnhart, who was being chased by Miami Twp. police at 80 mph down State Route 741. Barnhart died. Argabrite's lawsuit is awaiting decision by Ohio's Supreme Court on whether a jury should hear the case.
Before Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine formed a group this month to study police pursuit policies and to suggest a statewide standard, Butler County police agencies began exploring a countywide pursuit policy.
DeWine's 12-member group, announced via press release this month, said 352 people, including one police officer and 147 bystanders, were killed in law enforcement pursuits from 1982 to 2014.
“We have in this state over 900 law enforcement agencies. There is no statewide policy. And it’s not just about how the pursuit is conducted, it’s also about whether you initiate the chase to begin with,” DeWine said.
Across Butler County, police departments have detailed, written policies about pursuits, but they vary from department to department.
“We have been working for about a year,” said Fairfield Twp. Police Chief Matthew Fruchey, who is the president of the Butler County Chiefs of Police Association, about creating a uniform pursuit policy across Butler County. “It’s not completely done, but we hope to have it soon.”
DeWine’s concern, he said, is innocent people that are killed in chases.
“The issue is what is the proper balance between the desire to apprehend someone and the public safety?” he said.
Policies change
Throughout Butler County, pursuits are prohibited for misdemeanor offenses. Police pursuits are also terminated, even with probable cause of a felony, if the driver has been identified or the license plate obtained.
But it can be a tricky call
“An officer may be making a stop because someone ran a stop sign, but the (driver) thinks you are stopping him because he has cocaine in the trunk and a loaded gun under the seat and he takes off,” said Middletown Police Maj. Mark Hoffman.
Over the years policies about pursuits have changed, he said.
“When I first came on, we chased everything,” Hoffman said.
Butler County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Deputy Anthony Dwyer agreed.
“It was on until we caught you,” Dwyer said.
But now, Dwyer said, the policy is to first insure the safety everyone involved — the public, the suspect and the officer.
Just this past week an Ohio State Highway Patrol trooper was injured when he attempted to stop a reckless driver on Interstate 71 in Warren County.
A passenger, Barbara McCain, 51, of Tiltonsville, Ohio, indicated to the trooper she needed help, according to a media release.
The driver, Thomas Gorman of Lakeland, Fla., reportedly accelerated rapidly, dragging the trooper a short distance as the driver fled with McCain, officials said.
The trooper pursued the vehicle south on I-71 to westbound I-275 during a high-speed pursuit.
Gorman reportedly lost control of his vehicle near Winton Road in Forest Park and was taken into custody after a brief struggle.
Time and place
Fruchey noted the protocol for a pursuit at “1 in the afternoon with plenty of traffic is different from a pursuit at 1 in the morning.”
The location also makes a difference.
“A pursuit on the highway is different. It’s wide open even though there may be traffic. In the city, there are lights, stop signs, people walking, animals. It is different,” Hoffman said.
But Fruchey said it is worth it to explore the issue, which includes the levels of pursuits and when they are terminated.
“We have a lot of chases around here that involve multiple agencies and go through many municipalities. We are not going to ask the people memorize the policy, but just be aware.”
Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said, “Public safety is our number one priority and therefore we are constantly evaluating our policies and procedures including pursuits to ensure we are providing the very best service.”
German Twp. police Chief Joseph Andzik — a member of DeWine’s study group — said his department employs stringent pursuit policies, only chasing for violent felonies.
Andzik said when he started in law enforcement in 1994, he chased drivers for nearly any reason. Now, he said, liability and risk have led his department to stop chasing juveniles because of their lack of driving and decision-making skills.
“It was a different time and place in history.” Andzik said. “We kind of used those things that happened in the past and in our history to come to better conclusions today and make those policies and practices that are going to be best, not only for law enforcement, but for society and for the community.”
Decision could alter chase immunity
Lebanon grade school teacher Pamela Argabrite sued Miami Twp., the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and others after she was struck by suspect being chased at 80 mph on State Route 741 on July 11, 2011.
Argabrite sued for damages in 2012, alleging she'd had multiple surgeries, medical and hospital expenses of more than $630,000 and a loss of past and future earnings in excess of $57,000.
Argabrite claimed officers’ conduct was “extreme and outrageous” when law enforcement chased a known burglary suspect, Andrew Barnhart, who died when his vehicle hit Argabrite’s.
Argabrite's suit was denied in Montgomery County Common Pleas Court and that decision was upheld by the Second District Court of Appeals. The case was argued in Ohio's Supreme Court in February.
Kenneth Ignozzi, Argabrite’s attorney, argued that “the court of appeals have simply usurped the legislature and added common law things in there that are not supposed to be in there” when it comes to liability of police officers’ conduct in chases.
Miami Twp. attorney Joshua Schierloh said during oral arguments that it wasn’t foreseeable Barnhart would cause an accident.
“When you’re chasing somebody at a high rate of speed through a densely populated area, all kinds of bad things are foreseeable, aren’t they?” Ohio Justice Paul E. Pfeifer asked. ” I mean, this individual stole a TV and he’s dead. That’s a pretty bad consequence.”
Schierloh argued that without the no proximate rule: “You will embolden criminals to act dangerously, knowing that the faster they drive, the more traffic violations they commit, they will assure themselves of their freedom. That is not sound public policy for Ohio.”
Study group will work for answers
“Chases are one of the scariest, most dangerous things we do,” said Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer, who looks forward to a standard policy. “I understand the cops, they want to chase, their job is to catch the bad guys, but we’ve got to restrict it through policy because of public safety.”
Andzik said following procedure isn’t enough.
“What is a best practice? What is a better policy?” he asked. “When we do have those failures that an officer does follow policy, but it turns out it may have been the wrong thing to do?”
DeWine said the group’s suggestions — which he hopes are ready in about three months — should provide motivation.
“It is not absent some action by the legislature,” DeWine said. “It would not compel any law enforcement jurisdiction to adopt, but it certainly would have some high persuasive value. And I would think that after it’s adopted, every police department should at least look at it.”
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