Liability Anyone?

This will merely reinforce Chicago's aversion to pursuits. And in this case, maybe rightly so:

• A motorist was killed Sunday after leading police in northwest Indiana on a high-speed chase and crashed on I-94 near Chesterton.
• An Indiana State trooper was waiting at a crossover on the interstate and as the Trail Blazer went by, the trooper deployed stop sticks. The vehicle tried to avoid them, but the front and rear tires on the driver's side struck the stop sticks and the driver lost control, police said.
• The vehicle rolled over and the driver, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the SUV. The motorist died at the scene from massive head and neck injuries. Toxicology tests are pending.

So much for "stop sticks" being a safe and effective method to slow/stop a chase safely. The court depositions and lawsuits are going to be interesting on this one.

UPDATE: It was a female driver, not male as the first few comments have been assuming. Second, it was a disturbance call. No guns, no felonies, nothing. Third, this is almost exactly the sort of case taught in various courses where the punishment (death while fleeing) doesn't fit the crime (quasi or misdemeanor at best).

We are advocates of chasing, believe us. The minute the bad guy knows he can flee with impunity (and it's happening already), we've lost the entire game. The trouble is we are also advocates of police keeping their jobs and houses and pensions. And the political realities of the Northeastern corner of Illinois being what they are, it is truly a rare occasion when an officer of this jurisdiction is going to be backed by the exempts, the political structure and the courts.