911 sought in FL trooper death

oh, i hate to be a wet blanket...... Black Porsche sought in trooper's death By Jeff Libby Sentinel Staff Writer October 6, 2004 Investigators were searching Tuesday for a black Porsche that witnesses say was drag racing at speeds of more than 100 mph shortly before a state trooper crashed and was killed Saturday as he tried to overtake the car and a motorcycle. The initial call to police described the car as a red Porsche 911, but investigators say subsequent interviews with witnesses at the accident site on Interstate 4 in Volusia County suggest that the Porsche is probably a color closer to black than red. Trooper Darryl L. Haywood's fatal crash may have been caused by a puncture in the right rear tire of his 2002 Chevrolet Camaro cruiser, Florida Highway Patrol spokeswoman Kim Miller said. But investigators have not yet determined what caused the puncture, Miller said. Haywood's cruiser slid more than 860 feet and was still traveling at 60 mph when it crashed into a tree, according to court testimony given Monday by a state trooper in an unrelated case. Donald Williams, 38, of Seffner, the driver of the 1999 Suzuki Hayabusa 1300 motorcycle -- considered the fastest production motorcycle ever built -- remained in St. Johns County Jail without bail Tuesday. Deputies in St. Johns County charged Williams with aggravated fleeing and eluding and reckless driving Saturday after they observed him driving northbound on Interstate 95 at more than 150 mph about two hours after the crash in Volusia County. Investigators are still compiling a timeline of events in an attempt to determine whether Haywood caught up with Williams or the driver of the Porsche. A memorial service for Haywood is planned for Thursday in Daytona Beach.

Idiots...they should keep those speeds at the track. To bad for the Trooper...up here the police won't chase you "in the city" just for speeding.

This is becoming all too dam common on the highways today - Kids see the fast and the furious and think they can hang in triple digits - I generally pay those AHOLES no mind when they try to bait me. Almost daily I see them race on the highway, cutting people off and crazy speeds. What a shame.

Its a shame the dope in the Porsche didn't blow a tyre.... I just like knowing I could dust the guys in teh imports who like to terrorize the freeway, I just don't have to prove it. Would be better if there were more tracks around and insurance companies allowed for lessor fees for advanced driving instruction. Was a guy here 2 days ago who blew thru a speedtrap doing 140kph...crashed into a transport headon....his Glock went thru the windshield with him...good footage of how not to race your Honda http://www.pulse24.com/News/Top_Stor...5-004/page.asp

The cops should not even follow these guys just let them go. What's the point of follwoing them? Just set a road block up. Sometimes you have cops who get a charge out of running high speed chases as well - 2 wrongs dont make a right.

I agree with RR on this one. Was this the only cop in the county? Did he not have a radio to set up intersecting officers? High speed chases are absolutely stupid 90% of the time, and innocent people are often hurt as the pursuers escalate the action.

can't believe the hyabusa rider was stupid enough to 1. run away, 2. a few hours later go out again and proceed to ride 150.

It is, of course, possible that these people were so far in front of the cop that they did not even know about this.

I don't know about that. I was in a serious accident in Toronto many years ago ('87 or so). I was driving a Dodge Caravan home from a gig (I'm a drummer) at about 3:00 in the morning and was T-Boned by a speeding car at Avenue and Eglinton (he ran a red). The car was going about 120 km and was being chased by the police. I was lucky to have survived. He tore off my front end like butter, then went airborne and caught fire. I should have sued the police force.

I do not believe the Porsche driver or motorcyclist bear any responsibility for this unfortunate accident. I just cannot support or agree with high speed police chases. People who risk life and limb to race on public roads are not likely to stop for police. At speeds of over 100 mph, they would almost definitely face astonomical fines, license suspension, and possibly even jail time. While this may come across as cruel or coldhearted, I do not feel sympathetic toward the officer. He made the decision to engage in the pursuit and even attempted to OVERTAKE the cars. This probably provoked the Porsche/Busa to further increase their speeds. Even if the officer had not experienced the tire failure and miraculously managed to catch up to the offenders, how would he have resolved the chase? I assume the probability of innocent motorist casualties increases exponentially the longer a pursuit continues. I personally find a great deal of arrogance and "hunger for power" among police officers. There is little doubt in my mind that the officer in question enjoyed the adrenaline rush of participating in this chase and probably desired to put these "speeding vigilantes" in their place. My views are cleary biased as I have had more than one unpleasant law enforcement experience.

Its a shame the trooper died but its just another in a long line of cases against high speed pursuits. They're just too dangerous to the innocent to justify.

Oh yes they do. Their illegal and irresponsible behavior instigated this incident. And the trial, if there is one, will prove it. These cases almost always go against the instigators and rightly so IMHO. The police will argue that time was of the essence and the officer had to try to stop them before they injured or killed innocent people. BTW, I'm not for high-speed chases unless there are special circumstances but in this case the drag racers bear the responsibility.

Wow, none of you seem to know the facts but some have already cast an opinion that the officer was at fault. Clearly the investigation hasn't finished. The article doesn't even say how fast the officer was travelling when the tire blew out; just that it was "still traveling 60 mph when he crashed." Just because the officer was pursuing does not automatically make it a high speed chase. Perhaps he was following the two at a lower speed while radioing ahead for a roadblock when the tire blewout. Bobby

Oh brilliant opinions here, lets let the bad guys go so they can - A. Not be punished -B.not hurt the innocent and- C. Do this anytime they want knowing they wont have any consequences. Sounds like a buch of liberal democrats to me. Why don't we just appoint more idiot judges who give all the rights to the criminals or offenders and screw the rest of us law abidding citizens...Maybe we can put the cops on trial for trying to do their job too! I know alot of cops who put their lives on the line everyday to try and protect innocent people whom they have never met. These guys and gals have way more guts and heart than than the average citizen these days! Time to wake up people................. Robert

I dont think they should terminate a pursuit, then the bad guy gets away and lives to do it again. I say shoot at them with an M16. If they actually got shot at like in the old days, there would be a decline in car chases I guarantee! As far as the bikes, Its so easy to run from the cops and get away on a bike its like shooting ducks in a barrel, I have friends that do it all the time and have never been caught. Personaly I think they are idiots and as the old saying goes, "stupidity kills but not nearly enough"

Excellent opinion, that makes two of us.

Don't be surprised if the drag racers are charged with felony murder. A trooper was killed in the line of duty. This is a very serious matter. The Porsche driver and biker knew they were engaged in a dangerous activity. This has nothing to do with arrogant and power hungry police - it has everything to do with the law and the safety of the general public.

While I may hold a few liberal beliefs, I am quite far from a Democrat. But aside from that, I still do not believe the Porsche/Busa bear any responsibility for the officer's fate. The officer obviously engaged in a high speed pursuit. The Camaro hit a tree at 60 mph after a 1000 foot skid. I think it is safe to assume the car was traveling at a much greater speed than 60 mph before the officer lost control. Also, the chances this officer could apprehend the offenders are slim to none. Two motor vehicles speeding down the freeway are dangerous enough; we do not need a rogue police officer following somewhere behind them. We also cannot be certain the Porsche/Busa even knew they were being followed, and their actions are completely unrelated to the officer's tire puncture. If I am going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit and a police officer must accelerate from a radar trap to pull me over, am I held responsible if the officer crashes? The officer's poor decison to pursue likely instigated further speeding and endangered additional lives. I cannot even begin to count the number of times I have witnessed police officers cut motorists off, weave in/out of traffic, recklessly speed down narrow shoulders, and act with an utter lack of sense/safety on their way to some "important" call. I would hope my personal safety while I travel on public roads is just as important to law enforcement as is their desire to "catch some bad guys" or "save" someone else. Unfortunately, my personal experiences force me to feel that this is not the case.

The trooper shouldnt have been so gung ho and chased after the street racers knowing that incidents like this can occur. I thought they were trained better or atleast have some common sense. The trooper could have killed someone in the process or made the racers killed someone while chasing them down. Sometimes being a hero can cost you your life!! But when its your time to go and your numbers up then your fate is in the hands of GOD. Oh yeah, stupidity doesn't kill, its your fate that kills you in the end.

I agree with RR and chrisrc. While I have sympathy for the cop and some (and perhaps disproportionate) blame will inevitably come upon the speeders, it is archaic for the cop to pursue. In Europe (which has its significant share of speeders), road blocks are commonplace. While cops and firemen are brave people that I respect, I can't help thinking that they often cause problems in their love of drama. Just the other day, a blaring fire truck pushed a delivery truck through a red light onto Broadway (at Times Sq.) and caused a major accident. The glass shards from the crash nearly hit me as I was jumping out of the pedestrian crosswalk. Was the fire truck going to a five-alarm fire? I doubt it.

I think the likelihood of a tire puncture causing the trooper's accident is very low. Tire punctures causing sudden deflation are very rare on the road (this is not F1 racing, and there weren't carbon fiber splinters on the road) and the odds that this would have occured coincidentally during this chase are quite small. More likely that the officer's colleagues were trying to come up with a reason for the accident other than "he lost control" which would have made the chase look even more ridiculous. By the way, just because I'm against most high speed chases does not mean I'm in favor of letting the racers go, as one poster suggested. I just think there are much smarter ways of getting the guy.

Guys, The officer could have used his radio to call all the officers in the area. He didn't need to speed, really come on.

I love the contrast betweent this thread and the 100+ MPH ticket thread. There are good reasons to link criminal activity to the unforseen results of that activity. Driving the car for a bank robbery and someone is killed, buys you a murder charge (no arguments about that being the right thing, I think?). How about when the street racers hit and kill a ped on the sidewalk? I think the police deserve at least that level of protection. I love the idea that the police don't need to speed. Where you there or something? Who are we to second guess with this level of information? What do you tell your kids, just follow the rules you feel are fair to you, at that time and place?

Chris --- You need to do a bit of soul searching on what you've said here. Your overt lack of compassion for a person involved in protecting our safety, who has died in the line, is nothing short of ignorant. I hope that you'll reconsider your statement. My heartfelt concern and sympathies go out to this Trooper's wife, children, grandchildren, and friends. Personally I am not in favor of high speed pursuits except under the most extreme circumstances. This chase occurred on Interstate 4 on a busy Sunday afternoon. When the Trooper's right rear tire gave out (from what we've seen, the tread completely separated from the sidewall, likely a debris impact-related failure) he was travelling in excess of 100 mph (the biker is reported to have been going over 150 mph). When the Trooper lost control, he clipped another car which then crashed (the occupant was relatively unscathed). Even though by current accounts this Trooper was a highly experienced, particularly well-trained in the art of extreme driving, dedicated officer, my opinion is that this pursuit shouldn't have been taking place under those circumstances, particularly w/ a motorcyclist as the pursuee (the Porsche had apparently dropped out of the situation by then; no new info on that moron). While I agree that the racers are not completely responsible for the FHP Trooper's death (it has yet to be shown that they were aware of the FHP pursuit), they are directly culpable in that they were in the process of committing a felony by racing on a public highway and endangering the lives of others. As the old saying goes - Fly with the crows, get shot with the crows. The Trooper had to do a u-turn from the other side of the Interstate to undertake the pursuit, so it is highly likely that the racer(s) saw the FHP cruiser. From Florida Statute 316.1935: "3) Any person who willfully flees or attempts to elude a law enforcement officer in an authorized law enforcement patrol vehicle, with agency insignia and other jurisdictional markings prominently displayed on the vehicle, with siren and lights activated, and during the course of the fleeing or attempted eluding: Drives at high speed, or in any manner which demonstrates a wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property, and causes serious bodily injury or death to another person, including any law enforcement officer involved in pursuing or otherwise attempting to effect a stop of the person's vehicle, commits a felony of the first degree, punishable as provided in s. 775.082, s. 775.083, or s. 775.084. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the court shall sentence any person convicted of committing the offense described in this paragraph to a mandatory minimum sentence of 3 years imprisonment. Nothing in this paragraph shall prevent a court from imposing a greater sentence of incarceration as authorized by law." That's 30 years to life if convicted, and I believe that these ******** should receive the bulk of that sentance. Mr. Santangelo, your little gem: "Oh brilliant opinions here, lets let the bad guys go so they can - A. Not be punished -B.not hurt the innocent and- C. Do this anytime they want knowing they wont have any consequences. Sounds like a buch of liberal democrats to me. Why don't we just appoint more idiot judges who give all the rights to the criminals or offenders and screw the rest of us law abidding citizens...Maybe we can put the cops on trial for trying to do their job too!" Is it really necessary to dump a steaming load of political diatribe into this discussion? While this is a free forum, you can't honestly say that this was a contribution, can you? I think that you were expressing support for law enforcement, but not with any sense of civility or cohesion. I'm glad that the elections are only a few weeks off, so people will stop seething at every opportunity. fwiw......... Jeff

First, your examples are far different from this. If you are fleeing a bank robbery and kill someone you should be charged with murder. If you are street racing and kill another driver or ped you should be charge with murder. In this case, the officer decided to chase the speeders and a mechanical failure, or driver error, resulted in his death. It sounds like the officer was not anywhere near the speeders at the time of his accident. I think the speeders should be charged with speeding and everthing else they can think off, but not murder. Let's say your kid shoplifted a matchbox car from a store. The store called the police. The policeman was killed in a traffic accedent going to the store. Is you kid guilty of murder? While an extreme example, were do you draw the line that the officer was killed by someone vs. killed doing his/her job? Roy ps. You cannot outrun a radio...

Are there any lawyers here? Isn't this what "involuntary manslaughter", or something like that, is for? In other words, you are involved in an activity that you know may harm others and, through no direct action of your own, but as a result of your dangerous activity, someone is harmed or killed. For example, a teenage shoplifter runs out of a store with police in pursuit. In trying to get away, he takes some risks and in trying to pursue him, an officer is injured, or even killed. It seems to me there would be some culpability. During the RNC protests in NYC an officer hurt his leg quite badly trying to remove some moron protestors from the roof of the plaza hotel. I'm not sure, but I think some charges were filed for this. I have to admit that the 10 mph over the limit example is compelling though. It is certainly possible for an officer to have a fatal accident darting into traffic to ticket someone doing 75 in a 65. Should that person who was doing 75 really bear any responsibility? Based on the above examples, it seems that legally, there should be no difference between the guy doing 75 and a guy doing 175. I would assume that this is where the state attorneys would make the judgement call on whether or not to bring charges (based on likelihood of a conviction) and it would hash out in court. For the 75 in a 65, I think in 99.9% of the cases, no charges would be brought. For the 175 in a 65, charges would be brought 100% of the time...

Roy, I think that is quite reasonable logic...........................Funny story about how some cops think they are always right......Locally, we had a cop run into the back of a delivery truck in downtown traffic. Not withstanding the fact that a 12,000 pound truck has a considerably longer stopping distance than a cruizer, and the fact that the general law says; you hit something in front of you and it is your fault, the cop wrote the truck driver up for stopping too fast. Needless to say when the story hit the paper the charges were dropped. Oh yeah, the cop got a desk job, and the town paid for a new nose on the cruizer.......police should be personally accountable to the general public for the consequences they cause by high speed pursuits. Every case deserves ajudication, there are extenuating circumstances, but the cops should not be given carte blanche. my own opinion, of course.....

Baltimore has a successful policy of not engaging in high speed pursuits. Meanwhile an hour south in Maryland/Virginia, State Troopers, county police, D.C. police and Park police would engage in pursuits routinely.......and we used to run all the time. Quite succesfully I might add. Many say you cannot outrun radio but in the late 80's, early 90's these different agencies weren't even on the same frequencies so with our well developed techniques and during the right times of day or night, evasion was quite simple. You just new not to mess around however in an area that had a well thought out pursuit policy. Like helicopters. We didn't always evade, not for something simple but when the speeds were ridiculous you kept your momentum and kept going. Did this until a lawyer friend spoke to us about the consequences. We could get killed. A bystander could get killed or worst of all, the cop could get killed chasing us.We could rest assured that if that happened, they would do everything to find us. So,that third one made us all think (as much as one could make an 18-21 year old with a Mustang,Vette/944Turbo kid think) and most of us just cut that stupidity out. That and just growing the hell up.

Jeff, you are right, sorry for the political speech...I just got worked up at the thought of someone thinking the cop was in the wrong. I am sure there are betterways to get these idiots and hope we come up with one soon. I can't wait for the election to be over either, I am sick of all the spinning on T.V. and print... Lets all enjoy our toys and be SAFE out there! Robert

Speaking of which, I find the concept of the EMP device they are working on to be pretty interesting. Point it at the speeder, pull the trigger and the electricals fail in the target. They will get it right pretty soon and that will be the end of chases......solve most of the collateral damage and blame syndication too.....

I will be the first to admit my statements lack compassion. I noted earlier my distaste for some of the law enforcement policies in our country. I have witnessed numerous abuses of power and instances of poor judgment from the people we expect to serve and protect. While I do not wish to offend anyone, these are my current beliefs. Let me make clear that I in no way support the actions of the Porsche or Hayabusa drivers. However, the Florida Statute that Jeff posted perfectly exemplifies why high-speed pursuits are extremely dangerous. The Porsche/Busa drivers faced harsh penalties if apprehended. Even if the pair had stopped, they cannot accurately determine the length of the pursuit. The officer might have already decided they were attempting to elude arrest. The bottom line becomes that the Porsche and Busa drivers have every reason to flee when the officer initiated the pursuit. They were risking innocent lives by racing in the first place. What would suggest that this type of individual would be less likely to endanger lives on the account of a police pursuit? I'm going to assume that people who engage in this type of behavior have the greatest propensity for actually attempting to outrun police. These particular individuals also possessed two of the fastest street legal vehicles. They could easily escape from a pursuing officer. It is unfortunate that some motorists decide to risk everything and elude the police. This is a fact of life though. Ideally, I would like to see all reckless drivers brought to justice for their actions, but punishing these people is not worth the lives of my friends and family. Police pursuits undoubtedly escalate situations of this nature. I will guarantee neither the Porsche or Hayabusa driver initially intended on excessively or irrationally (in their eyes) risking their lives/vehicles. When the police enter into this equation, people lose their ability to ration and think logically. What once was a quick acceleration on an empty stretch of freeway might turn into a 150+ mph life or death car chase. I am obviously no expert in this field, though I would like to imagine that safer methods exist than high speed pursuits for stopping this behavior.

It is felony murder only if it invovles a crime involving a burgulary, assault, rape, robbery or kidnapping. Doesn't fit any of these so it probably won't fall under any type of murder statute. the prosecutor might have a case for misdemeanor murder however, depending on the local laws. Bobby

Oh and like I said before. WE DON'T KNOW ANY FACTS AT ALL. Opinions on the subject of high speed pursuits are fine of but STOP assigning blame on the officer before you know what happened. I like to think that the people on this forum are well educated people who will wait till the facts are in before assigning blame. We dont' know if the officer did anything wrong yet. Bobby

Good point, Bobby. Though speculation and what-ifs sure are entertaining at times . . .

Don't be surprised to see him/them charged with felony murder.

So let's say, I'm doing 95mph. The police are "forced" (note the quotes for those power hungry "lets see what this will do" or "I dont think he's gonna stop" or "He isnt stopping fast enough" or "I think that car is stolen as the person driving is to young" type of cops) They pull EMP my car, pull me over, arrest me. Now the electrical system in my car is complete crap now. I goto court, get my license revoked for 90 days, and get a $500 fine. However on top of all that my electrical system is completly FUBAR. Who's gonna pay for that? I sure as hell shouldnt, neither should my insurnace company, the state or county who decided to destroy my electrical better pony up and pay for it. IMO, or they'd have a lawsuit on their hand. All hypothetically of course.

Let's say I'm going 75 in a 55. A cop decides he wants to pull me over, but has to step on it to catch up from his hiding place. He might be doing over a hundred for a short period... In the process he wrecks and kills himself; am I responsible for that? I don't think so. As said before we don't know the facts on this case. If the Busa was knowingly evading the police then I think he shares some responsibility in the death of the officer, otherwise I don't think he does.

I couldn't agree with you less. You get legally stopped for doing 95, the collateral damage to your car is your problem. BTW, I don't know that the EMP system destroys the electricals, the idea is to make them stop working........ Either way, I have no problem with it. You speeding, eluding arrest......pay the piper.....Lot cheaper than being charged with manslaughter, eh?

cop cars have several monitoring systems that will provide information on what the car was doing before the crash....a good lawyer knows this. BTW, many current automobiles onboard computers monitor and record speed and other operating events (lotsa different ways), and the owners do not know this. You get in an accident charged to be your fault and the car is gonna provide the evidence. I wonder, for each automobile I have, what its ability to squeal on me is.......

As far as who is responsible for damage to your car�s electrical system, if you are going to engage in reckless driving, be prepared to open your check book. Or, maybe the police should have to pay for new tires for your car if they have to use spike strips to stop you! If so, would they have to replace them with the same brand or perhaps they could post a question here to see what the best tire is! As far as the debate comparing this example to 10mph over the limit, I believe there is a big difference between a speeding violation and reckless driving. If you are going to engage in street racing or once you hit the reckless driving threshold, you probably deserve to be held accountable for injuries to others on the road or those law enforcement officers that are responsible to protect others on the road. There is clearly not enough info, here anyway, to determine what the officer should have done in this situation (maybe just keeping them in sight in order to be able to radio ahead to other officers). But for those that were involved in the reckless driving, I have a hard time finding leniency for them.

yes, it will be very interesting when cars are speeding out of control without brakes or steering! do the airbags even work after the car has been EMP'd or are those EMP'd going to be justifiably killed over traffic offenses?