Actions in deadly police chase under review

Published 11:24 pm Monday, September 8, 2008

MARYSVILLE — Snohomish County sheriff’s officials continue to analyze a crash that killed a Marysville teenager after a deputy tried to stop the pursuit by bumping the suspect’s car at nearly 80 mph.

Instead of spinning out and stalling, as the pursuing deputy had intended, Randall Privrasky’s car fishtailed, then skidded down an embankment. The car struck a tree. Privrasky didn’t survive the March 28 crash.*

Snohomish County prosecutors on Aug. 29 determined the deputy did not act criminally, recklessly or with negligence. The sheriff’s office plans to review the incident to determine if the deputy acted properly or if policies need to be revised, spokeswoman Rebecca Hover said.

An internal review is expected to begin this week, she said.

Relatives of Privrasky, 18, are considering legal action.

“If the officer didn’t follow policy and procedure then something has to be done about that,” said Ron Privrasky, the teenager’s father.

The officer involved in the crash is a 25-year veteran with master patrol deputy status. He returned to work shortly after the crash.

Sheriff’s officials will try to determine if the deputy’s use of a Pursuit Immobilization Technique, or PIT, was within department policy. That’s when a police car pulls along a fleeing vehicle and bumps the rear corner to get it to spin out, stall and stop.

The maneuver is unpredictable at high speeds, experts said.

Officials plan to examine the deputy’s training and supervision during the incident, Hover said.

“In addition to the internal review, we will evaluate our policy — as we would in any similar situation,” Hover said.

A group of crash detectives from several Snohomish County law enforcement agencies investigated the fatal crash.

They produced a nearly 600-page report that Snohomish County senior deputy prosecutor Mark Roe evaluated. Roe determined the deputy acted reasonably given the circumstances. The deputy told investigators he feared the teenager would drive into a heavily trafficked area and put others in danger.

About 8 p.m., the deputy spotted Privrasky’s car driving as fast as 60 mph down Westwick Road near Snohomish in bad weather. Privrasky, who only had a learner’s permit, accelerated instead of slowing down and pulling over when the deputy signaled him to stop.

Speeds reached 80 mph on a straight stretch of 171st Avenue SE when the deputy bumped the teen’s car.

Sheriff’s office pursuit policy requires deputies to obtain a supervisor’s approval before using the PIT at speeds over 40 mph.

The deputy who bumped Privrasky’s car told investigators he had a standing directive from his supervisor to end pursuits quickly and had “carte blanche” permission to use the PIT, according to the investigation report.

“I’ve never seen a situation where approval is given on a blanket basis or prior,” said Geoff Alpert, a professor of criminology at the University of South Carolina. He studies the use of high-risk police activity.

Randall Privrasky was driving between 69 mph and 79 mph, according to a Washington State Patrol analysis of the crash. The road was wet and snow was beginning to fall.

The likelihood of tragedy increases at those speeds and conditions, Alpert said.

“To me that’s deadly force, because you don’t know what’s going to happen,” Ron Privrasky said.

The unpredictability is one reason many police departments require a supervisor to give approval before the move is used at high speeds, Alpert said.

“The point of having a detached supervisor is to analyze the situation outside the stress and adrenaline,” he said.

Ron Kelley, a retired police driving instructor from the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, near Orlando, Fla., said only the officer behind the wheel can best evaluate if the PIT is appropriate.

“The person in the driver’s seat of the car who’s going to be making the PIT maneuver is in the best place to make that call,” Kelley said. “That decision is going to weigh heavily on the operator.”

Similar to the sheriff’s office, Lynnwood police and Washington State Patrol troopers also must get permission before attempting a PIT over 40 mph.

Both departments have exceptions.

In Lynnwood, supervisors in a pursuit don’t need to seek approval before a PIT is used, said officer Bill Beers.

At at the State Patrol, the policy isn’t written in stone.

“I can always deviate from the regulation manual,” Cpl. Don Varkevisser said. “But I have to be able to justify why I did it.”

Legal precedents in cases involving pursuits side with law enforcement, Alpert said. A recent Supreme Court case found that police can use force to end a pursuit if the officer believes public safety is at risk.

Ron Privrasky said he’s frustrated.

“The policies and procedures are there for our protection,” he said. “If the officer is allowed to throw the book out the window, then that’s back to the old cowboy ways.”

Still, he said he realizes that his son should haven’t sped off.

A few days after the crash, detectives met with the teenager’s father.

“He wanted us to tell the deputy involved in the pursuit that he was very sorry for what his son had done by not stopping,” the investigation report said. “Ron made the comment that his son should have stopped when the lights were on.”

Reporter Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437 or jholtz@heraldnet.com.

*Correction, Sept. 10, 2008: This article originally listed the incorrect date of Privrasky’s death.