KCK police chase ends when station wagon slams into SUV; 3 injured, 1 critically
A station wagon being chased by Kansas City, Kan., police slammed into an SUV Saturday evening across the state line in the heart of the Brookside area, injuring three people, one critically, according to police.
The crash happened about 5:40 p.m. when the fleeing car ran a red light at 63rd Street and Brookside Boulevard in Kansas City.
The incident began with reports of a rolling gun battle near 24th Street and Parallel Avenue, Kansas City, Kan., Police Chief Terry Zeigler said in a message on Twitter.
Police spotted one of the vehicles, a gray Chevrolet HHR that was occupied by five people. When officers tried stop the station wagon, the driver fled and officers pursued, Zeigler said.
When the station wagon reached Glendale Avenue, it spun out. The driver then allegedly sped toward an officer who was standing outside a patrol car yelling for the driver to put his hands up, Zeigler said.
The driver of the station wagon intentionally struck the police car, according to Officer Tom Tomasic, a spokesman for the Kansas City, Kan., Police Department. There were no injuries, he said in an email Sunday morning.
The officer continued the pursuit. Kansas City police joined in the chase when it crossed the state line.
The station wagon was headed south on Brookside with police behind it when it ran a red light and slammed into a white Acura RDX on the driver’s side near the rear of the vehicle. That spun the SUV around into a RideKC bus, according to Kansas City police.
A passenger in the SUV was critically injured. The driver was seriously injured. Both were taken to a hospital.
Meanwhile, four people fled from the station wagon but were arrested. A fifth person was found in the front passenger seat with serious injuries from the collision and was taken to a hospital.
Police said they took a handgun from the station wagon.
The driver and a passenger aboard the bus were examined at the scene of the crash, but both refused medical treatment.
Tomasic said the pursuit followed Police Department policy and also would have fallen within a previous, more restrictive policy.
The Kansas City, Kan., Police Department had temporarily suspended most vehicle pursuits in 2014 after a series of pursuit crashes killed innocent bystanders. In April 2014 a second-grader was killed in a wreck with a suspect who ran a red light while fleeing police.
The department had racked up 250 pursuit-related crashes in the previous decade.
The police chief at the time, Ellen Hanson, announced that officers would chase suspects only in violent felonies while the department’s policy was reviewed.
The department’s current policy does not include that restriction.
The policy says that officers can pursue for a felony, a misdemeanor or a traffic violation. But, it says, the mere fact that the suspect tries to elude police is not cause enough to chase.
“Officers must weigh the need for immediate apprehension against the risk and dangers created by the pursuit,” the policy says. The officer is required to consider numerous factors, including the hazards of pedestrian traffic, residential areas and road conditions.
The policy says an officer must inform a supervisor of the chase and request approval. A supervisor should terminate the pursuit if the suspect can be identified and apprehended later.
The wreck was one of two Saturday that injured bystanders in Kansas City when drivers tried to flee police.
About 9 p.m. a Chevy Cruz sped away from a traffic stop, ran a red light and struck another car, leaving the driver with life-threatening injuries.
Kansas City police have said they did not pursue that car.
The Kansas City Police Department’s policy states that officers will not begin a pursuit for a traffic violation, DUI or stolen vehicle unless the occupants have been involved in a dangerous felony or there is an immediate danger to others.
This story was originally published February 24, 2019 at 8:45 AM.
