It’ll be some time before all the facts come out with regard to the high-speed chase and crash that claimed the lives of a Florida Highway Patrol trooper and a tractor-trailer driver.
Lots of us have questions about the unbelievable tragedy early Friday morning on Interstate 95, near Crosstown Parkway in Port St. Lucie.
Tom Bakkedahl, state attorney for the 19th Judicial Circuit, answered one of mine Friday night.
“He is going to wake up tomorrow morning and realize he’s not in Miami anymore,” Bakkedahl said of Michael Addison, 30, North Lauderdale, charged with fleeing from Trooper Zachary Fink in a way that led to two deaths. “We’re looking at every opportunity under the sun to ensure that he’s punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
Out-of-towners nabbed in three chases
Addison was caught after he crashed into a tree a white Kia he was driving the wrong way on Interstate 95 shortly after Fink and the tractor-trailer driver collided about 2 miles away, authorities said Friday.
Bakkedahl was the second law enforcement leader in the past week I spoke with worked up about people coming from out of town and wreaking havoc on a largely peaceful Treasure Coast. I also heard from Eric Flowers, Indian River County sheriff, citing a bank robber from down south on probation charged with holding up an iThink Financial bank in Fellsmere.
In that incident on Jan. 25, deputies located the suspect on I-95 and chased him to Fort Pierce, where his vehicle crashed into an innocent bystander’s. Only the suspect was seriously injured.
On Thursday, an unrelated chase ended in quiet Fellsmere. Brevard County deputies started it after trying to stop someone driving a stolen U-Haul van. Fellsmere police, assisted by Indian River deputies, put spiked strips on the road to puncture the suspect’s tires before the van crashed into a ditch. Police said there were no injuries.
Remembering 1994 tragedy in Vero Beach
After high-speed chase takes her child:Vero Beach woman helps others grieve
Broward man arrested:Judge orders no bond for man accused in death of FHP Trooper Zachary Fink
Thursday evening, a former colleague texted me, wondering what was up with the first two chases in Indian River County. After all, chases had been relatively few and far between.
I didn’t give the text much thought as I drove north past Crosstown Parkway about five hours before the deadly pursuit. It hit me on Friday when I read of the death of Fink, just 26, who was trying to protect the safety of motorists by catching a suspect driving dangerously fast, officials said.
Then there was the as of Saturday yet unnamed truck driver, who, like Fink, was just doing his job, serving those of us who rely on deliveries. Like the motorist in Fort Pierce struck by the fleeing bank robbery suspect, it could have been any of us.
As it was in July 1994 when a suspect fleeing an Indian River County sheriff’s deputy at about 100 mph T-boned a car crossing U.S. 1 at 26th Street, killing a woman and three children heading home after a church skating party. The local teenager was chased after a deputy saw something — believed to be a cocaine rock, which was not found — tossed out of a car window.
Laws enforced on Treasure Coast
In 1995, the teen was sentenced to 24 years in prison, followed by 10 years probation, on vehicular homicide charges. The probation ended in 2018, according to court files.
If convicted, Addison could serve more time. A review of current Florida statutes suggest he could eventually face felony murder charges, punishable by up to life in prison. It makes sense that fleeing and attempting to elude police with lights or sirens on in connection with a death can lead to such consequences.
Bad guys must get two messages clearly:
- Fleeing from police, especially when it leads to high-speed chases, will not be tolerated.
- Come to the Treasure Coast to commit a crime and you’ll get caught, thanks to a gantlet of license-plate reading cameras. Then, Bakkedahl’s office and local judges will try to ensure you won’t bother us again.
That said, law enforcement must carefully review each of its pursuits and learn from them.
Pursuits are dangerous — not just to law enforcement, who must weigh the risk of a suspect’s imminent danger to the community versus the risk of a chase that could jeopardize the safety of bystanders. Last year, the Police Executive Research Forum offered new guidance after a record 455 police chases involving fatalities in 2020, according to the Associated Press.
Deciding to pursue, or continue a pursuit, is not always an easy decision, which is why agency policies must be clear and training extensive.
Like the crash that killed the woman and three children, which in my mind happened yesterday, I will never forget the one that killed Trooper Fink and the tractor-trailer driver.
Hopefully, by the time investigations are done and justice is executed, we will know more about how to keep our communities, including the men and women who protect us, safer.
This column reflects the opinion of Laurence Reisman. Contact him via email at [email protected], phone at 772-978-2223, Facebook.com/larryreisman or Twitter @LaurenceReisman.
If you are a subscriber, thank you. If not, become a subscriber to get the latest local news on the latest local news on the Treasure Coast.
Credit: Source link
