By Paul Matthews, The Arizona Republic
March 20, 2001 Tuesday, Final Chaser East Valley Edition
Copyright 2001 Phoenix Newspapers, Inc.
The Arizona Republic
March 20, 2001 Tuesday, Final Chaser East Valley Edition
(MESA, Ariz.) - Police will convene a review panel to examine two recent pursuits, one that resulted in the death of a bystander and another in which another innocent man was seriously injured.
On Saturday night, a police pursuit ended when the suspect, Robert T. Eymer, lost control of his vehicle and struck Miguel A. Lucero, who was standing on a sidewalk along Mesa Drive near University Drive. Lucero died at the scene. Eymer was booked on suspicion of manslaughter and fleeing a police officer.
Early Thursday morning, a forgery suspect sped away from Mesa police on Stapley Drive and, while a police helicopter was overhead, smashed into a pickup truck exiting U.S. 60, seriously injuring the driver.
The Pursuit Board is chaired by Mesa police Cmdr. Gil Otanez and includes two lieutenants, a sergeant and a patrol officer, said Sgt. Mike Goulet, a police spokesman. They will meet at month’s end to determine if department policy was followed in the Stapley Drive pursuit.
“If there has been a violation of the policy, there may be some training issues involved,” Goulet said, adding that the policy “may need some revision, that kind of thing.”
A date has not been set to review the Saturday pursuit
Several factors, including the threat to public safety, traffic conditions and the availability of the police helicopter, dictate whether police will pursue a potential suspect, Goulet said.
Copyright 2000 LEXIS-NEXIS, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights Reserved.