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Fatal police chase raises questions

By Brandon Bartlett - bio | email | Twitter
Posted by Sarah Harlan - email

EVANSVILLE, IN (WFIE) - A chase and deadly crash raises questions about when to start and when to call off a police pursuit.

The pursuit lasted less than 30 seconds, and the result is a lifetime of grief for the family of the victim.  

Evansville Police said the suspect, 19-year-old Samuel Manley, was impaired and fleeing police when his car ran a stop sign and struck the driver's side of another car, killing the driver.  

Wednesday, family and friends are remembering 29-year-old Kyle Parker, who's survived by his wife and two young sons.

His funeral will be Saturday at Alexander East Funeral Home.

So, who makes the call to start a police chase, and who decides when it stops?

There is a policy in place at the E.P.D., but there wasn't a lot of time to act because this chase only lasted 22-seconds.

"There's no easy answer," Jason Cullum with the EPD said. "Do you pursue people that run or do you not?"

Officer Jason Cullum was on scene shortly after the police pursuit took a deadly turn.

"There's a lot of little things that add up, and all that information is being processed very quickly, and decisions are being made in split seconds,"  Cullum said.

It started when officers said they noticed Samuel Manley's car driving recklessly in Garvin Park.

They attempted to pull him over.

That's when they said Manley sped off, and the pursuit began.

The officers on the streets are the ones who decided to initiate a pursuit, but the police chief said, after that, a supervisor makes the final call.

"In our policy, the supervisor, who is not involved is the pursuit, is the one who makes the decision whether to continue the pursuit at some point or to terminate the pursuit," EPD Chief Brad Hill said.

But this pursuit lasted only seconds, leaving no time for a supervisor to make an official call.

"The supervisor was just calling to get the details of the pursuit when it was over," Hill said.

Even if the supervisor had time to get information like road conditions, weather, and speed from the officers, that doesn't mean the chase would have been terminated.

"There's no specific guidelines that say that after 30-seconds you're going to make a decision," Hill said. "Each situation is different."

This situation, officers said, was different because they attempted to stop a man who put not only those at Garvin Park in danger, but also students leaving North High School.

Unfortunately, an innocent man was killed in the end.

"The officers were doing their job, and the proper blame is with the person who did wrong, and that's Mr. Manley," Hill said.

Manley is facing many serious charges.

He'll be back in court again on Monday.

The two officers involved in the chase have been placed on a three day mandatory leave.

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