Couple Hurt in Police Pursuit

After 57 years of marriage, Anna and Henry Polivoda still enjoyed their daily walks to the Beverly Center.

She is 76. He is 79. They married shortly after World War II, a celebration of survival for living through the Holocaust in Poland. In recent years, they led happy, healthy and independent lives.

Their afternoon walks were proof of that.

But on Sunday, they were recovering in adjoining intensive care units after being struck the day before by a car during a high-speed pursuit outside the mall. It happened just after 2 p.m. Saturday, when a man speeding away from police raced through the crosswalk at the mall’s entrance at Beverly and La Cienega boulevards and slammed into the couple.

Stephany Yablow, speaking from the hospital, said that before the accident her mother was very active--gardening, baking and hanging her laundry out to dry. “My dad is almost 80, but has never been in the hospital,” she said. “And now this.”

The Polivodas were listed in fair condition Sunday at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.

Anna Polivoda suffered a head injury, a broken thumb and a leg broken so badly that doctors thought for a while they would have to amputate.

Henry Polivoda suffered a broken leg and a severe concussion that has left him disoriented, Yablow said.

Police arrested the driver, 23-year-old Tremine Tillman of Van Nuys.

An unidentified man and woman in Tillman’s car fled after the accident.

A Los Angeles Police Department spokesman was unsure why officers initially tried to stop Tillman as he drove near La Brea Avenue and Washington Boulevard.

But after noticing the patrol car’s lights and sirens, the suspect allegedly picked up speed and began careening down side streets, smashing into as many as 12 cars until he reached the Beverly Center, police said.

After the car hit the Polivodas, its occupants jumped out and ran into the crowded mall. Dozens of officers swarmed the Beverly Center, locking it down for two hours and trapping thousands of customers inside.

Ultimately, police said, they were able to capture only Tillman, spotted by customers as he ran outside Bloomingdale’s.

Tillman was initially booked on suspicion of felony evasion, though more charges could be added, including causing injuries while evading arrest, said Sgt. Jesse Williams.

Yablow said her parents were expected to recover, but fears that they may suffer lingering health problems.

She said it’s a terrible twist of fate for a couple who have overcome so much adversity in their lives. Her father escaped into Russia to hide from the Germans during World War II, and her mother nearly died in the Auschwitz concentration camp.

The couple moved to America in the 1960s to raise their two daughters.

He became a successful tailor. She took on work as a seamstress.

While remembering her parents’ struggles, Yablow paused to vent her anger at police, who she said contributed to the accident by engaging in a pursuit in an area congested with people.

“I understand the LAPD [has] a job to catch wrongdoers,” Yablow said. “But they should not do so at the expense of people’s lives. And now that it’s hit home, I am going to make it a mission to change pursuit policies.”

LAPD officials defended their actions, saying the officers who initiated the pursuit were no longer involved when the accident happened.

Heavy traffic caused the police cruiser to lose the car it was pursuing, Williams said. Only a police helicopter was still involved in the chase at the time of the collision, he said.

“When you are talking about a vehicle you are in pursuit of, you see the vehicle and you are behind it,” Williams said. “And that just wasn’t the case here.”