High speed pursuits are dangerous situations that are becoming less commonplace as the years go on. This is due to evidence that they are even more dangerous to pedestrians and motorists than a single reckless driver, and that it’s nearly impossible for a driver to outrun a helicopter. Yet the LAPD chased a silver Corvette C6 for nearly an hour around the streets of Los Angeles this weekend, a chase that ended in a violent crash and a gunned-down driver.
Without knowing all the details, why didn’t anybody think to radio in OnStar, which could have remotely shut the car down? It would have ended everything in mere moments.
Perhaps the most ironic moment of this entire incident is that the Corvette driver had the green light, and slammed into a car running a red light. Shortly after, the driver gets out of the silver C6, and appears to be giving up before being gunned down. Excessive force? To put it lightly, the move certainly isn’t doing the boys in blue any favors in the PR department, adding what appears to be another poor “judgement call” to the mounting pile, with no reports indicating that the 51-year-old driver was armed.
Watch the entire pursuit down below (viewer discretion is advised). The crash takes place just after the 20:30 mark, and it should go without saying that we’re not at all advocating the Corvette driver’s dangerous actions in the least.
Comments
What a ridiculous commentary manoli. Car might not have active OnStar. How could you tell who was running red light? If you decide to get out of your car and run like that with at least 15 cops pointing guns, you might get shot.
No other reports mentioned the capabilities of OnStar, so I raised the point. And as I wrote, those details don’t seem to be known at this time. The video shows the Corvette running through a green. Secondly, law enforcement officers have non-lethal weapons at their disposal for a reason. Instead, guns were the first resort here. I’m not about to pretend what was in the driver’s head (or what substances he may have been on), but it didn’t look like he was about to run away. Anybody that crashes like that won’t be going very far, anyways.
Yeah definitely no need to shoot him. except for running red lights he wasn’t even speeding. where does the “high speed” part come from (I admit I did get bored and skimmed through most of it). He was not an obvious threat to the police at all when he exited the car. Also, he seemed to be under the influence of something.
The report says he was “armed” huh…yeah, sure he was, they found it under the seat I bet.
Foolish guy, crashed and still trying to make a run for it (maybe he was drugged up), he should’ve come out with his hands up, but it looked like he wasn’t posing a threat (when he came out), I hope those cops didn’t riddle his body with live rounds, from the video, it looks like non-lethal weapons were a good option here.
What a waste of a Corvette!
Are you serious? If they did anything they should have tased him, or just pursued on foot since he was plainly unarmed and an OLD MAN. This is ridiculous, there was an army of police cruisers behind him, and just because he doesn’t listen/comply to what the officers were telling him to do doesn’t then justify shooting him. Hope his family gets some good lawyers because from the video this was a completely disproportionate response.
where do you see the corvette had a green light? At time of impact lights are not visible. Once crash has occurred you can see a green light, but there was plenty of time for the lights to have changed.
“why didn’t anybody think to radio in OnStar, which could have remotely shut the car down? It would have ended everything in mere moments.”
How do you know they were not called? What is protocol for shutting car down? Did the car even have OnStar? You did not raise the point, you criticized without knowing the facts.
He got out of the car and started running first at the officers then away. I cannot tell when shots were fired. I would think in situation like that you have guns drawn and ready. First you would make determination that the guy is not going to hurt anyone else and then you switch to nonlethal. That takes time. This happened in an instant.
Tasers are not accurate from that distance, and are not always effective on people that are ramped up on something. What other nonlethal options were there?
Lots of Monday morning quarterbacking. It may have looked like it to you, but that was not a video game. There is no reset button. A man died, whoever took the fatal shots is more than likely devastated. Families are affected. Hopefully the guy that was hit in the intersection is OK.
You obviously do not agree, but in reporting something of this nature sticking to the facts is the only option until details are known. Then you can provide you opinion piece.
This is a car website, not a moral or ethics debating website. Abide by the laws and you’ll have nothing to worry about.
You tough guys who have your expert opinions on how the Police should handle a situation. I love watching guys like you, with poo in your pants as you shake violently due to your level of fright just being in the same block as an incident like this.
Firstly, OnStar Stolen Vehicle Shut Down only works on the last couple years of vehicles which that Corvette is not one of.
Secondly, The Police Police can use deadly force when they believe on reasonable grounds the suspect has the ability to cause death or grievous bodily harm. I would say he did that.
The Police give verbal commands at the end of a pursuit, failure to follow those commands can be fatal.
The suspect appeared to be trying to get in the rear hatch, so what your suggesting is that they let him get access to a firearm in the hatch, then let him fire one or two shots, then in your opinion thats the green light for deadly force?
A Taser is only allowed to be deployed 15-21 feet, so thats not an option here.
Beanbag Shot gun rounds may have been fired there, we dont know neither do you.
Can you tell if the suspect had a small hand gun in his waistband?
Can you tell if he had a knife?
I would suggest you STFU or sign up for the next recruiting seminar and strap on a gun and go chase badguys.
You dont see me telling you how to serve fries with your hamburgers do you?
Actually, the C6 Corvette, and any vehicle with OnStar, can be deactivated remotely so long as there is an active subscription according to OnStar officials. We don’t know if the Corvette had an active subscription, but it’s something to keep in mind here at all times. We’ll update the story with more facts as they come. And I’ll be sure to serve you extra fries with your burger next time if the suspect was indeed armed and attempting to attack, and the police did indeed attempt to deactivate the vehicle. For now, I will stick with my observations, as will you.
Merca = Police State…
I cant get over the video a couple of weeks ago where the cops where gunning down a Minivan filled with children as the horrified woman tried to escape… The excessive use of force is unbelievable and unacceptable… Period… Reality Check needs to get his head examined and consider the concerns of the average person and how bad the perception of the police force is even among us law abiding citizens.
Manoli
You are as wrong as can be. I would go to a crime blog if I wanted this. This site is nice because it takes GM info and aggregates it, and the readers provide excellent commentary.
If it is now a social commentary site let us know.
You are in over your head and do not realize it. Please continue with snarky unrelated commentary and watch the numbers drop.
Please stop mentioning OnStar as if it would have absolutely changed everything. The guy still would have gotten out of the car without following instructions and more than likely have been shot.
My experience with OnStar has not been great. I had a Yukon stolen and it was never recovered. My brother in law had a car stolen that was never recovered. He realized it within 10 minutes called cops who called OnStar and it took 25 minutes to have them run a trace due to procedures they must follow. The police do not have faith in OnStar for whatever reason.
Manoli
What is timestamp for the corvette having the green light? I cannot find the evidence that the corvette had the green light.
I like how all the time people like to pile on the cops for something if it goes bad. I seldom see anyone jump on the person who started the issue and often fail to comply. These folks put themselves in the position they are in and with the way things are you never know if someone is going to gun you down when you pull them over.
More cops die on the job than they folks they shoot.
Take a look at the show Cops and just see the BS they have to deal with. They try to remain in the rules and capture someone who has no rules.
I liked the one show where the Cop pulled out his gun on a armed suspect and told him to drop the weapon or I will shoot and kill you. This guy was smart and dropped the gun. I am surprised someone did not try to get the cop in trouble for making a lethal threat.
This thing about running from the cops needs to stop and the excuse I was afraid just does not work anymore. The truth is so many have outstanding warrants they should be afraid.
While it is true there are some Barneys out there the majority are good people doing a tough job.
If you were knocked out in a burning car who would be the most likely to stop and pull your A$$ out of the car the guy in the Vette or the cops?
If I was knocked out in a burning car, how fast would they arrive to get me out pending some lemming on the road even bothered to make a phone call? And seeing as where I live, where the response time can be as long as 45 minutes, it’s more or less up to the individual to handle their emergencies. As far as the “issue” goes, if everyone just simply complied with the establishment, we wouldn’t have the civil rights we do today (nor would have Mandela been a hero), just food for thought. I’m speaking in generalities, of course.
That aside, in this case, the driver was WAY out of line, was a hazard to everyone, wasn’t thinking, and yes, should have stayed put. Something like this should never happen. But bad decisions happened all around, and here we are. And Eddiedi, why does it matter where the timestop was? It’s not going to change your opinion.
Timestamp matters because you claimed the corvette had the green light. I cannot find that. When in video can you see that? Please answer.
not sure what you are getting at re you being in a burning car. Very scattered thought.
absurd comparison of this situation to civil rights efforts. Ridiculous comments again.
be careful giving Mandela sainthood. He was involved in some very bad things and supported some very bad people. He cannot be compared to Dr king nor ghandi as leaders who used peaceful and non violent methods to achieve their goals.
you are out of your depth on these discussions. I am out…
All of you getting offended because people dare to criticize cops, keep in mind that police officers are not infallible and there are SOME unlawful cops out there, believe it or not. I’m not a cop hater, I know that they form that thin blue line and cops have to deal with a lot of bad people/situations, but they should be held accountable IF they are unlawful. Don’t be so willing to turn a blind eye, but I’m also not saying to pounce at any little insignificant thing they do.
It appears the light was green for the Corvette because after the crash, the camera/helicopter pan around the corner to the rear of the Corvette and the signal is green but then turning to yellow to red. Usually, green lights are 27-30 seconds long so, it would mean, at the time of impact, the red car had a red light. How crazy. Now, would that mean the red car must buy the guy another Corvette and pay for the fire hydrant and (likely most expensive) the water charges?
What had happened was one officer fired beaten bags from a shotgun and another officer hearing the shots, instinctively fired his sidearm believing they were using deadly force. Now either there was a failure to relay by the bean bag officer to the other that he was using non lethal force or that officer that fired live rounds did not hear the officer in the commotion which I understandable considering there’s a hydrant pouring a torrent of water right next to the scene along with sirens. It’s an innocent mistake on the LAPD. Look let’s face the facts. Ts is guy obviously wasn’t some ghandi like figure who was gunned down like in the old west. He obviously had no regard for human life, he could have killed that car he smashed into. You assume the risks when you break the law and put innocent people in harms way. The police are there to protect the public from defectives like this that want to harm society. And no I’m not a cop or something I am a firefighter, but like I do my job they also have there’s to do. And as regarding the on star I wouldn’t know. I drive a ground up restored 1970 SS Chevelle 454 back when a Chevy was still the pride of America and made a long lasting fantastic product;)
Bean*
Justice: http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-to-pay-5-million-to-corvette-drive-killed-by-lapd-officers-20140820-story.html