State trooper killed in crash

[Timmee]

It's sad for me to hear of a law enforcement officer losing his life (I have 1 uncle and 3 cousins that are cops, and one uncle who was a cop until he retired). I feel sorry for his widow and their child too, for their loss (their child will never know his father).

As far as the motorcyclist is concerned, he's screwed. The trooper died while in pursuit, which makes the motorcyclist responsible for his death. He's going to spend a long time in jail for that.

[Dubstar112]

Lets analyze my head a little here. This is what Im thinking about

Bikes can out maneuver even the most agile police car let alone a chevy tahoe. Everyone can agree on that. I agree with that.

It was ignorant on the part of the motorcyclist. I agree, you would agree here too.

Chasing a motorcycle is just that a chase..who doesnt agree that a motorcycle can far outrun a cruiser? I feel it is common knowledge

It was a tahoe, which on the VISOR of the vehicle likley says to use caution at highway speeds.most SUVS do now days. Educated guess on my part as both of my parents suv's say this and they are 1994 and 1999 model years.

The bike? Well motorcycles are designed for a higher than average speed of course it is in the nature of the machine. Blame the bike for having the ability then and the rider for using it. Im not justifying speeding.

It is the officer's discretion here. If he makes the right choice hes a hero. If he doesnt they blame somone, the purp.If he hadnt of crashed and did pull him over headlines may have written trooper stops cyclist for excessive speeding instead of trooper dies in pursuit.Well wait a minute, there was only a pursuit because he didnt stop. I agree with that. But he didnt know? Well that gets deep. Ignorance is no excuse.

How many people would stop on a bike if they knew they got caught 100+...? 100+ it typically will lead to an arrest and atleast a huge fine or jail time. Im not asking if you would speed or not. Im thinking that this is why he didnt stop if he did know

Im in 100 percent favor of ticketing speeders and reckless drivers, but as somone stated above, theres already some areas that make policy to avoid high speed pursuits. I agree with that concept.


I believe it was the troopers decision to pursue. everyone agree?

I dont think the cyclist is at fault. From what I know that is my opinion. You asked I told.

I made it a point to break this down although it may not be 100 percent clear and coherent the idea of how I feel is still there and remains: The trooper in an SUV chased a motorcycle and lost control of his vehicle. Im really sorry, but thats the way I see it. Arrest the motorcyclist because he did get caught speeding of course.

The motorcyclist is at fault for speeding and several other infractions, but I can't see how he is responsible for the death of the officer, especially if he didn't even know the officer was in pursuit.

That being said, they should nail the cyclist for every offense they can. 120 is just stupid and irresponsible.

I agree with that.

[PyRo]

Lets go with another real life example in NYC.
Three people hold up a bank. As officers arrive they flee on foot. Two people run one direction, the other runs another. The single guy is fireing back at the two officers following him. He doesn't hit anyone but soon he is being followed by several more officers and yet more officers wait for him further down the block. With his escape route blocked he grabs a hostage. He is no surrounded by officers all with weapons drawn. He demands to be let go and at one point raises his gun at the officers. At this they take defenseive action and about ten officers open fire killing both the hostage and hostage taker.

Can you guess what the other two people were charged with when caught? Armed robbery and felony murder. They were both found guilty even though they had no knowlage of the shooting and surrendered to police without much of a struggle.

The law is the law regaurdless of what you think. This person will be brought up on felony murder charges which in NY is 2nd degree murder with a differant name. He's probably going to have 10-20 years to think about running.

[Destructo6]

Lets go with another real life example in NYC.
Three people hold up a bank. As officers arrive they flee on foot. Two people run one direction, the other runs another. The single guy is fireing back at the two officers following him.

Apples and oranges.

Armed bank robbery is not hardly comparable to riding a motorcycle at excessive speed. On the face of it, armed robbery has a high potential for causing severe bodily harm or death. You know, the goal is to unlawfully take something by force. Riding a motorcycle does not (except maybe for the rider himself).

[PyRo]

Apples and oranges.

Armed bank robbery is not hardly comparable to riding a motorcycle at excessive speed. On the face of it, armed robbery has a high potential for causing severe bodily harm or death. You know, the goal is to unlawfully take something by force. Riding a motorcycle does not (except maybe for the rider himself).

1. It isn't compareing Apples to Oranges. In both cases a felony was committed.

2. Their have been plenty of cases where innocent people have been killed in motorcycle crashs or as a result of reckless people on motorcycles.

[tropical_fishy]

Is it a felony in NY to drive a motorcycle at 120 mph? A felony is any action that carries more than a year in jail. You're right on the case law, but if the penalty for doing 100 mph+ in NY is more than a year in jail, that's way overkill. If it's less, it's a misdimeanor, and doesn't carry the felony murder statute.

[PyRo]

Is it a felony in NY to drive a motorcycle at 120 mph? A felony is any action that carries more than a year in jail. You're right on the case law, but if the penalty for doing 100 mph+ in NY is more than a year in jail, that's way overkill. If it's less, it's a misdimeanor, and doesn't carry the felony murder statute.

I can't recall the name of the crime but I believe fleeing from a police officer is a felony.
Believe me if a cop is dead they're going to go after this guy with everything they can and he isn't going to get off with some traffic tickets and community service.

[BeaverEater]

i agree that fleeing should be a felony but the main fact of this case will be if the bike was actually close enough to consider it to be fleeing. It said that the cop crashed his SUV doing only 50, and if the bike was doing 120+ he was a great distance away from the cop when he crashed. Ive got a feeling that this will all come down to how good the cyclists lawyer is. Its one of those cases that will be in the gray area.

[PyRo]

this will all come down to how good the cyclists lawyer is. Its one of those cases that will be in the gray area.

You're probably right. Like I said they're going to come down on this guy as hard as they possibly can. If this guy wants to get out of the charges he is going to need a good lawyer, legal aid isn't going to cut it. If hitting him in the wallet is the only way they can get him that's what they'll do. You can bet he's going to spend tens of thousands of dollars getting out of the charges. Ontop of that they'll hit him with reckless endangerment and whatever other charges they can get to stick probably costing him his license for a good period of time if not perminantly along with tons of fines and community service or probation. That's basically the best he has to look foward to.

[bleachit]

the trooper obviously could see the biker at some point. He did pursue him for 2 miles!!!


if the trooper was going 50mph the whole time, it would have taken him about 0.04 hours to travel that 2 miles.

the biker, in that same time of 0.04 hours would have traveled 4.8 miles.

ok, thats lame, but the bottom line is you dont pursue someone for 2 miles based on the people on the side of the road pointing which way he went. the trooper hit the tree at 50mph, I doubt he was going that SLOW in a chance of a fleeing biker.

besides, if he immediately turned, Im sure his lights and sirens were on long before that biker was out of ear shot/visible range. In that case, he obviously knew he was speeding, and the trooper probably isnt trying to pull over the 89 year old who is going 25 and cant see over the dash.

[BeaverEater]

well i can tell that you havent really rode on too many bikes. Chances are that the biker didnt hear him cause the wind muffles most of any sounds, even sirens. And frankly most rocket types bikes really dont have big mirrors so it may be possible that he didnt see him either.

edit: also it says that he only followed him for 2 miles and for a couple of minutes. That would be just about right for him topping off at about 50.

[Thordic]

Bleachit, thats simply not true.

I had a trooper chase me about 5 miles once and he could only see me in the last half mile or so, when he eventually caught up.

[rkjunior303]

Bleachit, thats simply not true.

I had a trooper chase me about 5 miles once and he could only see me in the last half mile or so, when he eventually caught up.

Is this that IAO ticket?

[Dubstar112]

Mirrors on a motorcycle, let alone a crotch rocket are pointless. I rode an R6 all last summer and the only thing I saw out of the mirror was a shaky image. I live only an hour north of the incedent, and the roads are known to be sub-perfect so I agree with he might not have been able to see him. Wind and the exhaust definatley do their job of covering noises that should be heard in a normal vehicle and 120 miles an hour? Im sure that the rider would not be focusing on what is behind him.. actually he shouldnt at all if he was going that fast. Going 120 isnt superfast, infact Ive been over that on the R6, but it requires little skill to be quite honest. Any newbie can jump on a bike and top it out on the highway with only minimal experience. Twisties is what usually separates good from poor. Another topic another time.

Id just like to reiterate and agree with Beaver.

Since I have seen a lot of NYST Tahoe's on I81.. More than usual. I usually see just the Crown Vic's or whatever else they might be in.

[fire1811]

Hmmm my mirrors work just fine?