by Paul Wilborn, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES (AP) - The Los Angeles Police Department was ordered to review its pursuit policy after a 4-year-old girl standing on a sidewalk was killed by a chain-reaction crash caused by a car running a red light during a police chase.
Evelyn Vargas was fatally injured on a downtown sidewalk just before noon on Saturday when a stolen BMW being pursued by officers collided with a minivan. Police said the crash knocked the minivan into a light pole that toppled, crushing the girl.
The civilian Los Angeles Police Commission asked Deputy Chief Dave Doan, who heads the department’s risk management section, to report back on the number of injuries and deaths that have resulted from police chases and to make recommendations for changes in the pursuit policy.
“I think we have to view this with a clean slate,” Commission Chairman Rick Caruso said Tuesday. “Let’s see what needs to be changed and do it.”
Doan told commissioners the department was operating “within the guidelines set by the state.”
The department’s pursuit policy was last revised in 1998. It contains several factors for officers to consider when initiating pursuits, including pedestrian safety, location and the seriousness of the crime involved.
In Saturday’s pursuit, officers saw the stolen car and started the chase after the driver went over a sidewalk and almost hit a police car, said interim Chief Martin Pomeroy.
Darren Rhinehardt, who police say was driving the vehicle, was charged with first-degree murder. Rhinehardt, 41, was hospitalized in critical condition after the crash.
Pursuits by Los Angeles police officers increased to 778 in 2001, up from 663 the year before. Pedestrian injuries climbed to 69 in 2001, nearly double the number in 1998, according to police statistics.
By contrast, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department was involved in only 241 pursuits in 2000, which left 15 bystanders injured. In Orange County, where the Sheriff’s Department pursues only dangerous felons, nine pursuits occurred in 2000.
Among those speaking at Tuesday’s commission meeting was Stephany Yablow, whose elderly parents were critically injured in March during a police pursuit on the city’s West Side.
Her parents, Polish immigrants who survived the Holocaust, were struck by a driver speeding away from police on a Saturday afternoon near a crowded mall.
In an emotional statement, Yablow said the department was “out of control in the way they do pursuits.”
“I would like the commission to do more than just hold a meeting,” Yablow said. “It’s so unfortunate that the life of a little girl had to be taken to get us to this point.”
Yablow’s family has hired an attorney and plans a lawsuit, but a 1998 state statute that sets basic guidelines for pursuits also shields departments from liability for injuries that result from legitimate police chases.