Police study crash, possible car chase

Gulfport police start an internal review after a stolen car being followed by police hit two others, injuring three people.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD

© St. Petersburg Times, published June 30, 2000

GULFPORT -- Some police departments tell officers to chase stolen cars if they won't stop. Other departments, such as Gulfport's, tell officers not to.

On Wednesday, Gulfport police were following a stolen Chevy Prizm when it ran a stop sign in St. Petersburg, causing an accident that sent three people to the hospital.

Gulfport police are reviewing whether this was a car chase and, if so, whether it was justified.

Gulfport officers are authorized to chase a car only if someone in it is thought to be a violent felon, said Police Chief Curt Willocks. They're not supposed to pursue a car simply because it's stolen.

"There may be other facts that come into play here," Willocks said Thursday. "You have to give the officer the benefit of the doubt."

Gulfport police say the man driving the stolen Chevy was the target of an ongoing criminal investigation.

Willocks has ordered his department to conduct an internal review of Wednesday's incident and to finish it by late next week.

St. Petersburg police say the 6:30 p.m. crash occurred when the stolen Chevy, speeding north on 35th Street, ran a stop sign at 18th Avenue S. The Chevy hit an eastbound Ford Escort, and both cars hit a westbound Oldsmobile.

The Ford's driver, Cedric K. Anderson, 36, was admitted to Bayfront Medical Center with a broken leg. The Oldsmobile's driver, Roman L. Burr, 23, was treated and released from Bayfront.

The Chevy's driver, 20-year-old Peter Battle III, was admitted to Bayfront with a head injury. Gulfport police charged him with grand theft auto, fleeing from police, and possessing cocaine and marijuana.

St. Petersburg police Officer Mike Preshur said the Ford Prizm was going about 50 mph in a 25-mph zone. Preshur viewed a tape of the accident taken from a video camera in the Gulfport patrol car that was behind the Chevy. Preshur is investigating the collision of the three cars, while Gulfport police are investigating whether there was a car chase.

The Gulfport Police Department has a detailed policy on pursuing criminal suspects, its chief said. The policy is similar to those of the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office and St. Petersburg Police Department, but the conditions for a chase are more strict than in Tampa.

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