6 People Killed During Stolen Truck Police Chase

[Jesus Malverde]

Source: CBS

Authorities say six people were killed after a stolen truck being pursued by authorities crashed into several vehicles at an intersection in South Texas.

According to a Texas Department of Public Safety statement, a DPS sergeant was pursuing the truck Monday afternoon just north of the city of Mission when the stolen vehicle hit three other cars.

DPS says besides the fatalities, an unknown number of individuals were injured. They were taken to various local hospitals and their conditions were not immediately known.

The names of those killed in the crash were not immediately released.

Read more: http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/08/13/6-people-killed-during-stolen-truck-police-chase/

[valerief]

1. What was in the truck that was so important people had to be killed for it? nt

[msanthrope]

23. You'll have to ask the driver why he chose to flee. nt

[tabasco]

33. You'll also have to ask the police

why they chose to endanger innocent lives over a property crime.

[msanthrope]

35. Because it wasn't just property--if you read the thread, human trafficking seems to be

the reason DPS, and later Border got involved.

[olddots]

2. police & adenalin = car chases for fun and profit

Police should be trained to react in ways that don't lead to reality theater show downs and chases that endanger non
suspects. I won't make Texas jokes about this because this could happen anywhere in America the Entertained 2013 .

[A Simple Game]

3. Hot pursuits should have been done when the

Rosco P. Coltrane and the Dukes of Hazzard got canceled. Far too many die because of them. This cop should be charged with murder.

[dbackjon]

5. So blame the cop, not the criminal - disgusting attitude

[CBGLuthier]

6. Reckless driving to recover property is the disgusting attitude.

Without any regard for any one else on the road. The cops are very much to blame for these incidents.

[dbackjon]

7. SMH - sure, lets just let the criminals run wild.

[Ash_F]

8. A lot of agencies have policies against chasing.

Unless it is for a violent crime. I don't know about DPS though.

A car chase is very dangerous.

[DLnyc]

9. okay good point

Let's blame the car thief for stealing a car and let's blame the cop for killing 6 people. You are right, we need to keep things in perspective. Letting car thieves run wild will lead to lots of missing cars. Letting yahoo cops run wild will lead to lots of dead people.

[Iggo]

10. +1.

[atreides1]

12. Catching one car thief...Is not worth the lives of 6 people!

DPS already knew the vehicle was stolen...which means they had all the information! What exactly was the point in continuing a pursuit especially when it became apparent that it was heading into traffic?

[meanit]

13. What?

Six people dead so the PD "could apprehend their man" over a fucking truck taken for a joy ride and you try and justify it by saying "well we just can't let criminals run wild, y'know".

Unbelievable.

What are you doing here?

[msanthrope]

24. It wasn't a joy ride...it was a truck stolen a week ago used in border crossings....

That's why he fled, and that's why there were two additional people from the truck who fled the scene...

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/08/13/3439460/carnage-after-police-pursuit-driver.html

[tabasco]

34. Still no reason to endanger innocent lives

with a high-speed chase.

Even your beloved police in most departments woulds acknowledge that and have instituted policies to prevent this kind of tragedy.

[msanthrope]

38. Oh, I agree that if the cop is found to have engaged in reckless behavior, he should pay the penalty

for it. Right now, asserting that the actions of the driver mean the cop was reckless is poor legal reasoning.

[A Simple Game]

15. You know what? I'm also going to blame the cop for the truck being destroyed.

Without the pursuit the truck may not have been destroyed.

So you tell me, what did this cop accomplish? Oh, yes they caught the criminal. I bet that he left all of the victims laying in the street and pursued the thief that ran away from the crash. And well he should go after the criminal, now he can charge him with vehicular manslaughter as well as grand theft auto.

[msanthrope]

25. Criminals...the truck had been stolen for a week, and when the criminals were

pursued, all three of them tried to leave the scene after killing that family. They caught the driver, but the other two got away.

Given the proximity to the border, this wasn't a pursuit of mere stolen property...this was a pursuit of a vehicle used in illegal border crossings.....

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/08/13/3439460/carnage-after-police-pursuit-driver.html

It always amazes me..the sympathy for the criminals.

[DocMac]

26. This is why the police have helicopters.

[msanthrope]

29. For all we know, the helicopters were on their way--Border Police had been alerted because the

stolen truck was close to the border (within 10 miles) and in an area known for trafficking. They arrived on scene later.

[Vinnie From Indy]

27. So will you declare here and now that you have no problem

potentially offering your loved ones up for death for the greater good to society of apprehending car thieves?

[msanthrope]

28. No. But you have no evidence that these were the car thieves. All we do know is that 3 males

were in a covered truck that was reported stolen a week ago--no mere joyride. Their response, 10 miles from the border and in an area frequented by traffickers, was to increase their speed recklessly when they heard a siren. That is reasonable suspicion of human trafficking. That is enough to pursue, and I suspect that the sergeant will be cleared of fault.

All three suspects tried to flee after killing that family.

http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/08/13/3439460_carnage-after-police-pursuit-driver.html#storylink=cpy

[Vinnie From Indy]

31. No?

So when it comes to YOUR family and loved ones this type of police pursuit is not acceptable? Is that what you are offering?

[msanthrope]

32. I'm sorry, but are you suggesting that this outcome is acceptable for *anyone?* Why would you even

ask that question?

I think your logical construct is facile. It's not a black/white situation. It's a tragedy, and we don't know all the answers yet. If the officer acted recklessly, then he will pay the penalty for it. In the meantime, the driver, who killed 6 people and tried to flee has neither my sympathy nor my compassion. The three-year old he left in the dirt does.

[Vinnie From Indy]

41. To be fair, your earlier posts indicate quite clearly that you are wholly

in favor of these types of pursuits. It seems very logical to assume that, in your mind, the deaths of innocent people is a price society must occasionally pay to apprehend criminals. I can completely understand your reticence to adhere to the same position when contemplating the personal sacrifice of your loved ones in such police actions. My post was simply to highlight that fact.

Cheers!

[msanthrope]

43. I have no problem with pursuits of persons suspected of engaging in human trafficking,

provided they are not reckless. If the cop was reckless, he should face the penalties.

But what you are doing is a logic fail---you assume that the actions of the driver indicate recklessness on part of the cop. That is poor reasoning.

[Vinnie From Indy]

45. Would this pursuit not be a prima facia case of recklessness?

There are SIX dead, innocent people because a police officer chose to engage in a high speed pursuit rather than break off that pursuit in the interest of public safety. There is no poor reasoning here, there is simply what appears to be your advocacy for police pursuits as long as your loved ones do not have to pay the price for such activity.

[msanthrope]

47. As to the driver, yes. As to the cop, no. You are making a case against the cop

by using the actions of the driver, without making a good argument that the specific actions of the cop were at fault.

It is poor reasoning, because you are ascribing the illegal actions of the *driver* to the *cop. High-speed pursuit is not, in and of itself, evidence of recklessness on part of the police.

[cthulu2016]

30. Blaming a policy is not blaming the cop

[marble falls]

4. Why hot pursuits are wrong.

[Kingofalldems]

11. Roid cops.

[Snake Plissken]

14. Texas

I have no further comment at this point.

[snooper2]

18. Well bless your heart!

[Paladin]

20. Thank you sir, may we have another? (nt)

[Paladin]

22. Hey, Plissken:

Are you blaming this morning's UPS plane crash on the State of Alabama? Sounds like a real opportunity for you.

[FailureToCommunicate]

16. THis is only news because of the number of dead. Sadly this happens every day and people

die or have terrible injuries. Some kid runs a red light, gets chased and panics (felony now, evading arrest) and is killed or kills someone they hit. A misdemeanor becomes a death sentence. High speed pursuit turns the cop into the judge, jury and executioner. This terrible practice has left an avoidable trail of carnage for decades, and only recently has there been more widespread ending of this dangerous policy.

[Liberal_in_LA]

17. horrible

[ConcernedCanuk]

19. Hector Ramirez - that was the driver of the stolen vehicle

.
.
.


http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-usa-texas-crash-20130813,0,2377718.story

Four children and two adults were killed in South Texas on Monday when a stolen truck pursued by the state highway patrol sped through an intersection, causing a multi-vehicle crash, authorities said on Tuesday.

Two girls and two boys along with two adults were killed when their Chevrolet Suburban was struck by a stolen truck driven by Hector Ramirez, 18, during a high-speed chase, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety.

The department said those killed in the crash were Jose Luis Ortiz, 55; Olga Lidia Morales-Cardoza, 35; Elias, 1; Fernanda, 3; Ricardo, 5; and Jose, 6, all from Penitas. The children in the Suburban shared the last name of Ortiz.

/snip/

Two women, aged 42 and 39, and two boys, aged 5 and 8, were also injured in two other vehicles involved in the crash.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________

All this carnage to recover a piece of metal.

See anything wrong here?

(sigh)

CC

[muriel_volestrangler]

21. All that carnage to keep posession of a stolen piece of metal

Yes, I see the morals of the guy who crashed the stolen truck as wrong. He should not have put people's lives in danger by driving like that.

[tabasco]

37. You don't believe police have any responsibility

to refrain from endangering lives with a high speed chase?

STRANGE.

[muriel_volestrangler]

39. Do you think it's OK for a criminal to break the speed limit and run red lights?

If the police never did a high speed chase, then all a criminal would need to do to get away would be to break the speed limit. The police cannot tell that someone driving a stolen car is willing to risk other people's lives just to get away. The police did not hit anyone. The thief did.

Juan De La Rosa, 36, was repairing a playground kitty-corner across the intersection from Ramirez's house.

"I heard the sirens and then I heard the truck press the gas," he said. "My first instinct was: I hope he doesn't hit nobody."

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/08/13/3439460_carnage-after-police-pursuit-driver.html#storylink=cpy

[ConcernedCanuk]

48. And the Police high speed chase really helped that out didn't it?

.
.
.

CC

[fredamae]

36. In the matter of Public Safety

This pursuit should have ended and other means to apprehend Should have been used.

There is No excuse for this reckless LE behavior imo.
The correct action is a no brainer.

[hatrack]

40. That truck had better have been made from fucking PLATINUM

[One_Life_To_Give]

42. Remote vehicle disable

Remote vehicle disable will put a stop to it. I discovered that my new truck is equipped with this feature. Police or myself can call up and have it put into a limp mode. The downside is GM always knows where I am.

[RussBLib]

44. the driver was allegedly an illegal

Althought the linked article doesn't say it, the driver was allegedly an illegal immigrant. At least, that what a lot of the RW noise machine is saying. And therefore, of course, it only shows that we must build 100' fences along the border and shoot anyone on sight who tries to cross illegally.

Nevermind all those US citizens who cause mayhem. They're citizens. But when one illegal does something like this, well, it's just an absolute outrage that must be rectified!!

[Jamastiene]

46. Sad.