High-Speed Chase Ends in Tragedy

Four people remained hospitalized and a Granada Hills family mourned its matriarch Wednesday as police defended their pursuit of a stolen van, saying it conformed to guidelines despite the resulting crash.

Linda Wageman, 44, was killed, and her daughter, Rebecca Wageman, 25, was seriously injured when their van was struck broadside Tuesday night by a pair of teenagers being chased by police.

Two Los Angeles motorcycle officers suffered burns trying to pull the two women from the burning van.

“They put their lives on the line,” Det. Jim Mann said of Officers Doug Gerst and Ron Stringer. “Unfortunately, they didn’t get to one of the victims quick enough.”

Described by police as “skinhead” white supremacists, Christopher Dechuff and Daniel Nardine, both 19, were fleeing officers who had tried to pull them over after seeing them drive erratically. The suspects were recovering Wednesday in the hospital from injuries suffered in the crash, and both face criminal charges.

The accident comes a week after Gov. Pete Wilson signed legislation giving judges the power to impound the car of anyone who initiates a high-speed chase, an occurrence that has become increasingly common--and controversial.

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

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

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

The men allegedly stole the van during a robbery earlier Tuesday, said acting Capt. Joe Rizzo 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 the Wageman van, which was headed north on Sepulveda.

Driven sideways across the intersection by the impact of the collision, the Wageman van flipped onto its side and ignited.

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

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

“I’m only 18, but it was the worst thing I’ve ever seen in my life,” Hurtado said.

The Wagemans, who live 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, Chante. Because the little girl had fallen asleep, Rebecca, a single mother, left her at home with her brother when she and Linda 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’s, 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, as relatives consoled one another at the Genesta Avenue home Linda shared with her husband, Steve, who spent the day at the coroner’s office. “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 Foundation of Southern California that pointed out 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, for 1993 through 1995.

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

The report singled out the LAPD, saying that the agency was disproportionately involved in chases that ended in injury or death. Although the department accounted for only 37% of the region’s officers, the department was responsible for 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 though 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 Gerst and Stringer for risking their lives to save the victims.

Both were burned while rescuing Rebecca Wageman from the car. Stringer was treated at Providence Holy Cross Medical Center in Mission Hills. Gerst remains there 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 Robert 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,” Hertzberg said. “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 new law, which takes effect Jan. 1, once police identify a car by its license plate number, and identify the driver, they would then be able to end the chase and have the car later seized 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 from the Valley, “is like carte blanche to criminals.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Police Chases

A growing number of vehice pursuits by the Los Angeles Police Department has resulted in an increase in crashes, injuries and deaths.

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YEAR PURSUITS CRASHES INJURIES DEATHS 1995 816 289 324 8 1994 791 251 321 8 1993 739 234 271 4

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Notes: 1996 figures are unavailable.

Source: Southern California American Civil Liberties Union, California Highway Patrol