Fatal Crash Illustrates High-Speed Chase Risk

Four people remained hospitalized and a Granada Hills family was in mourning Wednesday as police defended their pursuit of a stolen van, saying the chase conformed to LAPD guidelines despite the crash that resulted.

Demonstrating the peril of h Linda Wageman, 44, of Granada Hills, was killed and her daughter Rebecca, 25, was seriously injured when their van was struck broadside by a pair of teenagers being chased by police in Mission Hills. Two Los Angeles Police Department motorcycle officers suffered burns trying to pull the women from the burning van. One remained in critical condition Wednesday.

“They put their lives on the line,” Det. Jim Mann said of the two officers. “Unfortunately, they didn’t get to one of the victims quick enough.”

Christopher Dechuff and Daniel Nardine, both 19 and described by police as “skinhead” white supremacists, were fleeing police officers who had tried to pull them over for erratic driving. They were recovering Wednesday from injuries sustained in the crash, and both face criminal charges.

Tuesday’s accident comes a week after Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation giving judges the power to impound the car of people who initiate high-speed chases, which have become increasingly common--and controversial.

A study released last year showed that dozens of Southern California law enforcement agencies engaged in nearly 2,000 vehicle pursuits a year, causing deaths and hundreds of injuries.

Los Angeles police officials say that Tuesday’s chase, which began about 9:45 p.m., conformed to its pursuit guidelines.

The driver of the stolen van, Dechuff, 19, underwent brain surgery at Northridge Hospital Medical Center and will be booked on suspicion of murder when his condition improves. Nardine, who was on probation for evading police in another chase, was charged with grand theft auto.

The men allegedly stole the van during a robbery earlier Tuesday, said Joe Rizzo, acting captain of the Valley Traffic Division.

Rizzo said the chase began near Van Nuys Boulevard and Arleta Avenue when Dechuff refused to pull the van over after police observed him “driving in an erratic manner which suggested he was intoxicated.”

Officers using the van’s license plate number learned the van was stolen and began the chase, police said. The pursuit ended minutes later at Lassen Street and Sepulveda Boulevard when the two men, driving west on Lassen, struck Wageman’s van, which was headed north on Sepulveda.

Pushed sideways across the intersection by the impact of the collision, Wageman’s van flipped onto its side and caught fire.

“The whole thing was engulfed,” said Brian Hurtado, 18, who witnessed the aftermath of the crash with his father, Rick.

Hurtado said he and his father wanted to pull the victims from the van but the fire was too hot.

The Wagemans, who lived just blocks apart in nearby Granada Hills, had spent the evening watching TV in Linda’s living room. They had just given one of Rebecca’s friends a ride home when their van was struck.

Nat Savit, Linda’s father-in-law, said fate saved Rebecca’s 2-year-old daughter. The little girl, Chante, had fallen asleep so Rebecca left her at home with her brother when she and her mother left the house.

“She never left that child alone. Never,” Savit said. “This must have been fate.”

Savit said Linda, a salesclerk at nearby Thrifty, was the glue that held the family together through rough times after the Northridge earthquake, which forced them from their home.

“It was a very close family,” Savit said. “Rebecca is going to have a real hard time without her.”

Chante, who turns 3 next month, was not told of her grandmother’s death, he said.

Linda Wageman’s death underscores the findings of a study released last year by the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, which cited the dangers of police pursuits. The ACLU analyzed chases by 12 law enforcement agencies, including the Los Angeles and Orange County sheriff’s departments and the Los Angeles Police Department, between 1993 and 1995.

It found 47 people were killed, 363 officers were injured and more than 1,500 people were hurt, including criminals and innocent bystanders.

The report singled out the LAPD, saying the agency was disproportionately involved in chases that ended in injury or death. While the department accounted for only 37% of the region’s officers, it was involved in 47% of the deaths and half the injuries to officers caused by police chases in the region.

Deputy Chief Mike Bostic, the top LAPD officer in the Valley, said that while the results were tragic, the officers in Tuesday’s chase acted properly.

“It was a stolen car they were chasing,” Bostic said. “They were doing their job.”

The deputy chief also praised officers Doug Gerst and Ron Stringer for risking their lives in efforts to save the victims.

Both were burned while rescuing Rebecca Wageman from the vehicle. Stringer was treated and released from Holy Cross Medical Center. Gerst remains in critical condition.

“They’re both pretty upset that they couldn’t get the driver out,” Bostic said. “We tried to explain that she was pinned in the wreckage, but they’re still taking it pretty hard. They had to watch her die.”

Assemblyman Bob Hertzberg (D-Sherman Oaks), who wrote the law signed by Gov. Wilson last week, said it was designed to curb such high-speed chases.

“This is exactly what we’re trying to guard against,” said Hertzberg. “There’s a balance between apprehending a suspect and endangering the public. We saw it last night. We saw these suspects kill a resident of the San Fernando Valley. Did that have to happen?”

Under the law, which takes effect Jan. 1, once police identify a car by its license plate number and identify the driver, they would be able to end the chase and have the car seized later by court order.

The obvious drawback to police is they have to let the suspects go.

“And that,” observed an aide to one City Council representative, “is like carte blanche to criminals.”