This letter is in regards to the recent crash in eastern Washington that resulted in the deaths of two children after which troopers claimed state law prevented them from pursuing the suspect.
A single state trooper is slated to open the event with a 5-mile chase at 100-plus mph, but is outrun at 111 mph.
A second trooper engages and drops out after the speeder creates a very dangerous situation with heavy traffic.
The third “loses sight” of him at 110 mph.
A fourth trooper manages to follow, but fails to stop him, at 100 mph.
Those paying attention to this may notice that the speeds are progressively increasing.
At this point, we lose track of the number of officers involved. I believe the sketchy reports from this point on are purposeful, due to distancing themselves from the final outcome.
An unspecified number of troopers converged where the driver had exited the freeway. Nothing is mentioned about this meeting of the minds. Somehow a single officer finds and follows the miscreant back onto the freeway, and the driver manages another escape. Nothing is mentioned about speed here. Perhaps law enforcement is just being discreet, seeing as some of this “following” took place on city streets.
Back on the road, another trooper latches onto, and then is discouraged with our villain rocketing down the road at 120 mph.
Now at top speed, this epic saga winds to an end with a nonsensical and conflicting report: Allegedly, the police find the driver at a gas station but do nothing. We are supposed to imagine that they are passing around law books and trying to understand certain statutes concerning the situation they’ve found themselves in. However, that image is immediately voided when they also say that one of their officers “breaks off the pursuit.” The hour and minute the pursuit is abandoned appears to the same time the fatal crash occurs.
And in the end we have the story of a fatal crash, with a “congregation” of troopers participating in its creation and dissolution, as proof that Democrats have put us all in danger by “handcuffing” our officers.
And yes, I agree with the critics: We certainly make the world a little more dangerous expecting handcuffed officers of the law to drive at 120 mph. That’s a no-brainer.
Dennis Shain
Centralia
