CHANDLER, Ariz. — Two people were sent to a local hospital after they were hit by a suspect involved in a Chandler police chase, the city's police department said.
The suspect, identified by police as Derek Cevedia, hit multiple patrol vehicles and almost hit officers late Tuesday night, the department said. Officers initiated a pursuit with both patrol cars and air support.
Cevedia ran a red light near Price and Warner roads before colliding with two civilian vehicles, police said. Two people were sent to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
This is the third police pursuit in recent months, resulting in injuries, damage, and civilians caught in the crosshairs.
Chandler Police Detective Eva Zerrmeno detailed the latest case where officers had to quickly get out of the way.
“The suspect was a threat to our lives and that's why we had to take the action that we did,” she said. “He began to ram vehicles to the point that our officers had to jump out of the way, run,” said Zermeno.
Zermeno said air support from Mesa helped track Cevedia as he continued to flee from police, increasing the danger to both the officers and the public.
“He took surface streets and proceeded to go onto the freeway,” Zermeno said.
Retired Police Commander and Professor at Glendale Community College, Jeff Hynes weighed in on the tough decision to pursue a vehicle, while still being compliant with department policy and ultimately keeping the public safe.
“I'm sorry to the officers involved and I'm especially for the injured parties, the pursuit policies are incredibly restrictive because other people, innocent people can be hurt. Those officers who have to make those split-second decisions but to examine pursuit policy and do the risks outweigh the pursuit there's the bottom line,” he explained.
Police arrested Cevedia at the scene of the collision, officers said. Police said he admitted to being high on heroin.
He is being charged with endangerment and aggravated assault.
This is the second Chandler police chase in under a year that ended in a crash injuring civilians.
ORIGINAL STORIES:
The first crash happened last July and ended in a catastrophic crash that injured several people. Some of the injured victims have filed financial claims against the city of Chandler, arguing the crash could have been avoided if police officers had handled the situation differently.
The driver responsible for that crash, Arnold Serrano, has since been sentenced to 15 years in prison.
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