Collision involving police cars raises questions about pursuit

Three city police vehicles and a vehicle collided in a Salt Lake intersection Monday morning, raising the issue of how protocol works for police pursuits, which can take different forms depending on what's at stake. "We've always got to be cognizant of the need to watch out for the public," said Preston Raban, public information officer with the Utah Highway Patrol, which responded to the accident shortly after 8 a.m. "You just can't throw caution to the wind when you're chasing someone."

In Monday's accident, police were pursuing inmate Curtis Michael Allgier, who was on the run after police say he shot and killed a corrections officer at the University of Utah Orthopaedic Center. Allgier was taken into custody after he abandoned his stolen vehicle at an Arby's restaurant in Salt Lake City on the corner of 1700 South and Redwood Road.

Given the circumstances, Salt Lake City police were "justified" in pursuing Allgier at high speeds through streets and on the highway, according to Salt Lake City police spokesman Sgt. Rich Brede.

"We can't pursue for just anything," Brede said. "But this here is a homicide subject."

Brede said the goal was to isolate Allgier and deny him access to more victims.

But early in the pursuit, four Salt Lake City police officers, including two in one car, converged simultaneously at the intersection of 900 West and 400 South. They were responding to a tip that Allgier might be in the area and had not yet become part of the actual chase.

Those officers and a woman driving a sedan with a child in the back seat were able to walk away from the collision with only minor injuries. One officer said the woman was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

In two police cars, both front-seat air bags were deployed. Afterward, one officer had visible wounds on his face, and a second officer's arm was wrapped in bandages.

The accident happened with such force that the trunk of one police car popped open, and a ballistics helmet inside flew out and into the driver's side of the windshield of a Salt Lake City detective's car at the intersection.

One car landed in a city park strip on 900 West, and another spun around and into the woman's sedan, so that her car was pointed east along 400 South. It's not known yet how fast the officers were traveling at the time.

"We don't make a hard and fast rule of specific speed," Brede said about pursuits with lights and sirens. "Obviously, we want to be prudent and balance the safety of the public with the likelihood of apprehension."