19 Action News|Cleveland, OH|Breaking News, Weather, ExclusivesEditorial: Police Chase Gone Bad

Editorial: Police Chase Gone Bad

Cleveland, OH - With street crime on the minds of everyone in Cleveland, it might seem inappropriate to take the police to task for a recent incident - but take them to task we will because it's justified.

The awful death of Virginia Digiorgio - killed in the downtown theater district last Saturday night by teenagers fleeing police in a stolen car. Was a senseless act caused by out of control kids but caused also by careless cops. There can be no excuse for the behavior of the little punks who later were said to stand remorseless at their court arraignment.  

But, what are the police doing engaging in risky high-speed chases through busy downtown neighborhoods? It remains unclear whether the officers involved followed department procedures but police insisted the officers called off the pursuit blocks before Digiorgio was struck because they thought it was too dangerous. If so, then they must have chased the fleeing car for only a short distance and police union president, Steve Loomis, is right when he say's it's irresponsible to start a chase and then call it off because the car being chased keeps on running. Just since May, there have been 3 deadly crashes in Cleveland involving drivers fleeing the police and that's way too many.