FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. — On Tuesday morning, Flagler County deputies on patrol encountered a grey SUV that set off an alert in their system: it was carrying suspected car burglars wanted in St. John’s County.
Deputies said they flipped their lights on, and the car took off, getting off the highway and traveling at speeds that put others at risk. The pursuit was on.
They said they tried stop sticks, but the car’s tires were built to retain air, and the car didn’t stop. A side swipe also didn’t slow the SUV down.
The sheriff’s office shared a video showing what happened next: the SUV turned onto an off-ramp at the intersection of I-95 and US-1, just south of the Flagler County and Volusia County border.
The SUV hit a car, head-on, driven by a 71-year-old Ormond Beach woman. She died at the hospital.
“Let’s be clear about this whole thing, the actions of those criminals that day are what caused this event,” FCSO Chief of Staff Mark Strobridge said.
Strobridge, upon questioning, said the agency’s pursuit policy and the Florida Highway Patrol’s investigation into the crash were being reviewed.
The department’s policy allows deputies to chase vehicles in two specific circumstances: when the suspects being chased are accused of committing violent felonies or when they are putting other drivers’ lives in danger.
According to the policy’s list of possible crimes, car burglaries are not considered violent felonies. A spokeswoman with the St. John’s County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Stevens Charles and Joshua Hansen were not wanted for any other crimes.
The policy states that intentional collisions with emergency vehicles threaten the public and allow a chase. It’s unclear if deputies consider the side swipe, which was brief and barely damaged either car, an intentional collision.
It encourages deputies to back off chases once the danger becomes unreasonable or they can arrest the suspects later.
Strobridge was asked if the woman’s life was worth the immediate arrest of out-of-county car burglars.
“No criminal act is worth the death of anybody, especially an innocent bystander, and that’s what we’re really talking about,” he said. “It’s a criminal act that occurred that killed an innocent bystander.”
Both Charles and Hansen are now facing murder charges in connection with the crash.
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