Tweet
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/...Police%20Chase
Spokane deputies face discipline for prank car chase
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. -- A red-faced sheriff has apologized to city police, who joined deputies in a phony car chase that a sheriff's spokesman called "horseplay that has gone seriously awry."
The Oct. 3 chase ended when police used a spike strip to disable the fleeing car and drew their weapons on the driver, who turned out to be an undercover deputy being chased by another deputy on the way to the Public Safety Building to end their shifts.
The incident involving three deputies is being investigated and will be turned over to the Office of Professional Standards, which will report to Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk, spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said Monday.
"The sheriff was very embarrassed to have to go to the chief of another agency and apologize," Reagan said. "Nobody has a very good explanation of what occurred other than it appears to be horseplay that has gone seriously awry."
The deputies involved in the unnecessary chase through city streets may have violated state law and department policy, Reagan said.
advertising
The deputies, who were hired in 2002, remain at work, said Reagan, who said he cannot release their names until an investigation is complete.
The chase started early on Oct. 3 when a deputy in a marked patrol car turned on the emergency lights and chased two deputies in an unmarked Mustang, apparently as a gag, Reagan said.
The three had just completed a traffic stop east of downtown Spokane and were headed to the Public Safety Building near downtown to end their shifts.
When the deputy in the marked car turned on the lights, deputies in the unmarked Mustang accelerated, Reagan said.
After the cars entered the city, a city police officer saw the chase and joined in, thinking the deputy in the marked patrol car was trying to make a legitimate stop.
Officers heard radio calls about the chase and laid a spike strip across a street about three blocks from the Public Safety Building, flattening one of the Mustang's tires.
The undercover deputy who was driving got out of the car as police officers pointed guns at him, telling him to get on the ground, Reagan said.
Another Spokane police officer arriving at the scene quickly got out of his car to assist, but apparently failed to set his parking brake, Reagan said. That vehicle rolled through a cable fence and struck a pole, causing about $2,000 damage. The only damage to the unmarked Mustang was a flat tire.
State law says policing agencies must have reasonable and necessary reasons to break traffic laws, Reagan said.
"If it's not reasonable and it's not necessary, we're held to the same standards the general public is held to," Reagan said. "I want to assure the public that this is not business as usual."
Police appear to have reacted correctly to the deputies' chase, Deputy Police Chief Al Odenthal and Reagan said.
Spokane police aren't angry at the deputies, acting spokesman Lt. Dean Sprague said.
"They're the ones who have to answer for it," Sprague said. "They were goofing around. You just kind of go, 'Come on, guys.'"
Spokane deputies face discipline for prank car chase
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
SPOKANE, Wash. -- A red-faced sheriff has apologized to city police, who joined deputies in a phony car chase that a sheriff's spokesman called "horseplay that has gone seriously awry."
The Oct. 3 chase ended when police used a spike strip to disable the fleeing car and drew their weapons on the driver, who turned out to be an undercover deputy being chased by another deputy on the way to the Public Safety Building to end their shifts.
The incident involving three deputies is being investigated and will be turned over to the Office of Professional Standards, which will report to Spokane County Sheriff Mark Sterk, spokesman Cpl. Dave Reagan said Monday.
"The sheriff was very embarrassed to have to go to the chief of another agency and apologize," Reagan said. "Nobody has a very good explanation of what occurred other than it appears to be horseplay that has gone seriously awry."
The deputies involved in the unnecessary chase through city streets may have violated state law and department policy, Reagan said.
advertising
The deputies, who were hired in 2002, remain at work, said Reagan, who said he cannot release their names until an investigation is complete.
The chase started early on Oct. 3 when a deputy in a marked patrol car turned on the emergency lights and chased two deputies in an unmarked Mustang, apparently as a gag, Reagan said.
The three had just completed a traffic stop east of downtown Spokane and were headed to the Public Safety Building near downtown to end their shifts.
When the deputy in the marked car turned on the lights, deputies in the unmarked Mustang accelerated, Reagan said.
After the cars entered the city, a city police officer saw the chase and joined in, thinking the deputy in the marked patrol car was trying to make a legitimate stop.
Officers heard radio calls about the chase and laid a spike strip across a street about three blocks from the Public Safety Building, flattening one of the Mustang's tires.
The undercover deputy who was driving got out of the car as police officers pointed guns at him, telling him to get on the ground, Reagan said.
Another Spokane police officer arriving at the scene quickly got out of his car to assist, but apparently failed to set his parking brake, Reagan said. That vehicle rolled through a cable fence and struck a pole, causing about $2,000 damage. The only damage to the unmarked Mustang was a flat tire.
State law says policing agencies must have reasonable and necessary reasons to break traffic laws, Reagan said.
"If it's not reasonable and it's not necessary, we're held to the same standards the general public is held to," Reagan said. "I want to assure the public that this is not business as usual."
Police appear to have reacted correctly to the deputies' chase, Deputy Police Chief Al Odenthal and Reagan said.
Spokane police aren't angry at the deputies, acting spokesman Lt. Dean Sprague said.
"They're the ones who have to answer for it," Sprague said. "They were goofing around. You just kind of go, 'Come on, guys.'"
Comment