Two 16-year-old boys and a 17-year-old boy were killed – and a 16-year-old girl remains hospitalized – after a police chase on I-395 in Northern Virginia ended in a crash.
Virginia State Police shared new information the day after the deadly crash early Monday.
The teens killed in the crash were two 16-year-old boys from Silver Spring and a 17-year-old boy whose hometown was unknown, police said. A 16-year-old girl from Alexandria remains hospitalized and is in “serious but stable condition,” police said. Their names were not released.
A state trooper spotted a stolen vehicle on Stevenson Road at S. Walker Street in Alexandria about 12:45 a.m. Monday, police said. The trooper tried to pull over the 16-year-old driver, but he refused to stop. The trooper began to pursue the vehicle, which had been stolen from Prince George’s County on Saturday, police said.
The teen driver sped onto I-395 northbound and tried to exit at high speed onto Shirlington Road. The driver lost control, ran off the right side of the ramp and slammed into the jersey wall.
The chase lasted about two minutes and covered about five miles, police said.
State troopers plus Arlington and Alexandria police and emergency crews responded to the crash. Traffic camera video shows the emergency response. The 17-year-old died at the scene, and the other three teens were rushed to hospitals, where two died.
No one in the vehicle was wearing a seat belt, and the driver didn’t have a valid license, police said.
When should police chase suspects?
Virginia State Police declined an interview.
“Every pursuit that occurs is initiated by the violator. If the violator stops the vehicle when law enforcement personnel enforce a legal traffic stop, no pursuit takes place,” a spokesperson said in a statement.
The Police Executive Research Forum, a group that supports law enforcement by conducting research and studying best practices, said 30% of all police pursuits end in crashes.
“Certainly, we don’t want people engaging in crime and letting them get away. But on the other hand, if it’s a stolen car, no one ever goes to jail for stealing a car. But yet, if you engage in the pursuit of the stolen car and someone dies, then people start to ask questions, ‘Was that really necessary?’” Chuck Wexler, the executive director of Police Executive Research Forum, told News4 in an interview this summer.
Wexler said pursuits should only be initiated if the suspect is accused of a violent crime and if they pose an imminent threat.
Police agencies around the country have reconsidered their policies on pursuits. The Fairfax County Police Department, for example, changed its policy a few years ago and no longer allows pursuits for nonviolent felonies.
Virginia State Police said the agency reviews all of its policies and procedures on a regular basis.
Alexandria spent millions more than budgeted on public buses last fiscal year because of a spreadsheet error. Transportation reporter Adam Tuss explains.
News4 sends breaking news stories by email. Go here to sign up to get breaking news alerts in your inbox.
