Pittsburgh police Chief Cameron McLay wanted to send a clear message when he told officers Monday they could engage in vehicle chases only with people suspected of violent felonies.
“What I won’t tolerate is a police pursuit that creates more danger for the public than the law we’re trying to enforce with a traffic stop,” he said.
Bureau leaders had talked for months about changing the policy, but a chase Sunday that started with a traffic violation and ended in a crash injuring five people “put an exclamation point on the conversation,” Chief McLay said Wednesday during an interview at his North Side office.
“I needed to lock down the policy — right now, today — because the existing policy wasn’t solid enough for [our] needs,” he said.
The old policy gave officers broad discretion in deciding whether to engage in a pursuit, he said. The bureau would not provide a copy of the old rules.
The chief said his order reflects what he considers to be the profession’s best practices and halts most pursuits while the department looks at training and accountability systems and ultimately decides on the language of a revised policy.
His internal memo went out the day after the chase and crash in Bloomfield. The 22-year-old driver who tried to outrun police was charged Tuesday with 56 crimes.
“I wish the driver would have pulled over. I wish the driver would have complied,” Chief McLay said. “I think there’s more we could have done once we realized the danger of this chase, maybe breaking it off sooner.”
The officers who initiated the chase or any supervisor in any zone could have called off the chase, the chief said. “Anybody could have gotten on the radio and said, ‘This is out of control, disregard that pursuit.’ ”
We are sure you heard about the commotion in front of the store last night. Our thoughts and prayers go out to those involved. Our cameras happened to catch the whole thing.
Posted by MINI of Pittsburgh on Monday, November 23, 2015
Police have launched an internal investigation of the pursuit.
Officer Matthew M. Poling wrote in a criminal complaint that he and Officer Joseph A. Lippert, both hired in August 2012, were in a marked police vehicle when they saw a white Chevrolet Impala run a stop sign in Larimer. He wrote that there had “recently been an increase in reports for stolen vehicles” in Zone 5.
The Impala driver, later identified as Donovan Robinson of the Hill District, refused to pull over, Officer Poling wrote. Instead, he tried to evade numerous city police officers by driving toward officers’ vehicles, on curbs and sidewalks, and in the wrong direction on a one-way street, the complaint said.
For about five minutes, police pursued him through East Liberty, Shadyside and Bloomfield, at times reaching speeds of 70 mph, before Robinson crashed head-on into an Audi sedan on Baum Boulevard by the MINI of Pittsburgh auto dealership, the officer wrote.
A married couple in the Audi were injured. They could not be reached for comment Wednesday, and police did not provide an update on their medical conditions.
On Monday, a 12-year-old girl in the back seat of Robinson’s car was in critical condition, and a 16-year-old girl in the front passenger seat was in good condition. Their conditions were not available Wednesday. Police said they found a bulletproof vest, two ski masks and a police scanner in the Impala.
Allegheny County court records show that Robinson pleaded guilty once before to fleeing from Pittsburgh police. An officer on patrol Aug. 19, 2013, in the Hill District got a tip that Robinson, who had a suspended driver’s license and was not permitted to have a gun, was driving a silver Mercedes and had a firearm, according to an affidavit filed at the time.
The officer later saw Robinson in a silver Mercedes pull onto Kirkpatrick Street.
“When Robinson made eye contact with me, he had a shocked look on his face,” the officer wrote in the complaint.
The officer pulled in front of Robinson’s car, and Robinson accelerated backward, striking a utility pole. Robinson then struck the front of the police car before backing up and hitting the pole again, the officer wrote. As the officer got out with his gun drawn, Robinson sped away.
The officer gave chase, with Robinson driving through several stop signs. The officer lost sight of Robinson near Bedford Avenue, but he was arrested when he bailed out of the car on Fifth Avenue and tried to run. Robinson pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of simple assault and fleeing and was ordered to serve three to six months in jail plus a year of probation.
First Published: November 25, 2015, 6:25 p.m.
Updated: November 26, 2015, 3:36 a.m.
