June 27--Caseyville Police Chief J.D. Roth is still gathering information about the police chase that left Caseyville Police Detective Jeff Wilkinson seriously injured Tuesday after he crashed his police cruiser into a bridge support in St. Louis.
Roth said he is waiting for reports and 911 records about the case. He will also meet with members of the village's board of trustees before determining whether Wilkinson followed the department's pursuit policy when he pursued two suspects in a Fairview Heights theft across the Mississippi River.
"I don't have the complete facts," Roth said.
Caseyville's policy states that officers will refrain from entering interjurisdictional pursuits unless assistance from the pursing agency is requested and such assistance is approved by a supervisor.
No Fairview Heights officers participated in the chase, Fairview Heights Police Lt. Steve Evans said. Also, Fairview Heights police never requested that any other agencies pursue the suspects, but it would not be their place to tell an agency not to conduct a pursuit, Evans said.
"We would not pursue for a theft -- for a theft alone," he said.
A supervisor will decide whether to continue a pursuit into another jurisdiction, Caseyville's policy states. Wilkinson, a 12-year veteran and the department's main investigator, was the senior officer on duty, said Roth, who was in a meeting with his police radio scanner off at the time of the chase.
Wilkinson apparently got involved in the chase after hearing about the theft in the neighboring community on his police scanner, according to Roth.
Wilkinson, 38, was in fair condition Wednesday at St. Louis University Hospital for injuries to his head, ankle and hip. He was expected to remain in the hospital for another week or two, Roth said. Wilkinson could not be reached for comment.
The thieves are still on the loose, according to Evans.
The incident began at about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, when two men grabbed about 15 to 20 pairs of jeans and capri pants from The Buckle at St. Clair Square and ran off. A Buckle employee chased the two men and saw them go into an early 2000s, white Chevrolet Monte Carlo, which fled northbound on Illinois 159.
Wilkinson spotted the suspects' vehicle on Interstate 64 and followed it, Fairview Heights police said.
Evans said a Fairview Heights police sergeant overhead Wilkinson ask a dispatcher about the incident and relayed to him that it was a theft and the suspects were driving a Monte Carlo with no registration.
Wilkinson followed the car into St. Louis where he exited Interstate 70. Wilkinson crashed near 10th and Chambers streets in North St. Louis when he attempted to avoid another vehicle, clipped it and slammed into a bridge support, St. Louis City Police spokesman David Marzullo said. The people in the other car were not injured, and the police cruiser was totaled.
Further details about the chase have not been made available. Public records requests for reports and 911 and video recordings are pending with St. Louis and Caseyville police.
Caseyville police pursuit policy, which was taken from the Illinois Model Pursuit Guidelines that date to 1993, does not list which crimes should warrant a pursuit. The policy states, however, that the following criteria must be met before a chase is started: The suspect is attempting to evade arrest, and the suspect, if allowed to escape, may present a danger to human life or cause serious injury.
The policy further states that the officer must weigh the need to immediately arrest the suspect against the degree of risk to which officers and others are exposed as the result of the pursuit.
"Peace officers are reminded that they are under no legal obligation to initiate a pursuit, and that in many circumstances the safety of the public will dictate that no pursuit be initiated, and/or it be discontinued," the policy states.
Fairview Heights police released the following descriptions of the suspects:
-- One suspect was a black man about 5-feet-8 with a medium build. He was wearing sunglasses, a white baseball hat, a white T-shirt with an Adidas logo, white tennis shoes and dark jean shorts.
-- Another suspect was a black man about 6 feet tall with a thin to medium build. He was wearing sunglasses, a black baseball hat with a white logo, a white T-shirt, blue jeans and dark shoes.
-- There may have been a third suspect who stayed in the vehicle during the theft and acted as a driver.
Contact reporter Kevin Bersett at [email protected] or 239-2535. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/KevinBersett
Copyright 2012 - Belleville News-Democrat, Ill.
