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Suspect Dead After Pursuit Ends With Crash
June 5, 2009
An predawn chase by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Department ended with the death of a suspect early Friday morning.
The sheriff’s department says John Jeffery Reed, Jr., 22, of Pensacola was killed when the stolen vehicle he was driving hit a tree during a pursuit.
At about 4:42 this morning, Escambia deputies observed a vehicle southbound on Mobile Highway matching the description of a vehicle that was reported stolen on the same shift.
Reed turned into a gas station at Mobile Highway and New Warrington Road. The vehicle tag on the 2006 Chevrolet Colorado pickup was confirmed as stolen and a traffic stop was initiated, according Sgt. Ted Roy, spokesperson for the ECSO. The stolen vehicle immediately pulled out of the parking lot and down Webb Lane.
Reed than did a u-turn running over the stop sign at Webb Lane and Dogwood Drive and headed straight at the pursuing deputy causing that deputy to take evasive action by driving completely off the road, Roy said.
Another deputy then spotted the stolen vehicle on Border Street. Reed then lost control of the stolen vehicle and crashed into a tree at the intersection of Border Street and Bobe Street. Responding deputies arriving on scene knocked the back window out of the vehicle in order to get the passenger door open to render first aid due to the deputies observing the suspect to be unresponsive, Roy said.
Reed was transported to an area hospital where he died from his injuries. There were no other vehicles involved in the crash and no other injuries to any civilians or deputies. Investigators used fingerprints to identify Reed.
Comments
13 Responses to “Suspect Dead After Pursuit Ends With Crash”
Hey Joe u need 2 stfu! You sayin John was stupid when u can’t even spell or punctuate. He did not steal the truck either the guy who owned it sent him off in it. John just took to long getting back & the guy freaked. Karma will get him.
Hey Ethel just so you can sleep better me and stupid was locked up together at the county jail back in 06 and 07 and yes he is are was very stupid I knew him well always causing problems for the officers. Stupid people try to run over a man with a gun. Stupid people run from the police who are only trying to make a safe place for us all. I feel for the officers family and shame on the victim. Pray for the officers and there family FIRST. I don’t blame stupids family, the family can not control an out of control child. He will hurt no one else.
Most of you need to get a life! Calling people stupid[whom you probally don't even know] passing the blame game from the people to the police. These victims and the officers have loves ones devastated by these unfortunate events, they don’t need your thoughtless , comments. Just wait til the shoe gets on the other foot, I wonder what will you have to say then.
I am glad he killed himself and not someone else while being stupid. If the s.o. had of used deadly force to stop him I would be proud of them much like I am proud of the Atmore police It is a shame Williams did not hit a tree. I am sorry for the officer who shot Williams he has to live with what happened but know this the roads are safer now. If you run you do not care who dies. This time thank GOD it was the runner. Great job Atmore and Escambia S.O.
While the term “in pursuit” was used, it was used as all inclusive term of the events. When the deputies got turned around and started after the suspect he had about a 3-4 block head start, when they got to a curve in the road, they found that the suspect had apparently lost control and hit a tree. So, while it seems the deputies were in pursuit and they were; it’s not like they were right on the suspects bumper. You can be in pursuit and still be a long ways off…..if you can see the suspect you are in pursuit. This is not an issue, the kid stole a truck, tried to ram a deputy’s car and then, for his own known reasons tried to flee, lost control of the vehicle and hit a tree. A sad event but one that happens all over the US almost everyday.
MolinoDad,
If your child did something incredibly stupid (as kids are often wont to do), would you then say, “The gene pool just got a little cleaner”? That comment was uncalled for and reprehensible.
The gene pool just got a little cleaner. I’m just glad his stupidity didn’t cause anyone else injury or death. Sheriff Morgan and his deputies are doing a fine job.
Walnut Hill Resident, according to the ECSO, he was being pursued at the time of the crash. This comes directly from the mouth of Sgt Ted Roy, spokesperson for the ECSO.
One can see that this case is quite different from the Atmore shooting. This time there is an actual verifiable felony that started this pursuit, which, by the way, only lasted a few minutes and was contained within a few bocks (less than a half of a square mile); unlike Atmore’s 20 minute chase that started over minor traffic violations, which then carried across the state line and miles into another jurisdiction.
This incident, like Atmore case, will have to stand the litmus test of validity and many hard questions will be asked, and even though the end result is similar-a death, at least this time the driver died at his own hand, and he was not shot in the back of the head by the officers.
At least florida did not shoot him FROM BEHIND. Atmore could take a few lessons here.
Observer your comments make no sense at all. This kid lost control of the stolen vehicle he was driving. No where does it say that the police was even in pursuit at the time he wrecked. It says he was spotted by another deputy didn’t say he was inpursuit. And yes I will say that the Atmore police was right for doing what he did if the man tried to kill him with his vehicle as stated by the policeman. Any person has the right in this country to defend his life and the life of his loved ones by any means as for as I am concered. Just because the police was from Atmore doesn’t matter as long as he was protecting his own life and the lives of his fellow officers. This is my opinon which doesn’t mean much but, it is mine. Most high speed pursuits are stopped before it gets to this stage anymore which is a good thing. But, things don’t always go as planned in real life.
Isn’t it sad how people play the blame game? It’s not the cops fault that the suspect flees and wrecks the vehicles and then dies. It’s their own stupidity. So lets not blame the cops for the deaths of these dummies. Thanks
another death in a pursuit…by FLORIDA COPS THIS TIME! My My, some of you were mighty quick to down the Atmore cops after their pursuit ended in a death…another person who failed to stop was killed. If they have nothing to hide, they will stop, not run…enough said