Legal authorities in Florida lied about details of a fatal car chase that killed five and injured 13 outside of a Ybor City gay bar last Saturday. Critics now say actions taken by the Tampa Police Department (TPD) and Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) may have needlessly endangered the crash’s victims.

A FHP cruiser chased a Toyota Camry car as it sped along Interstate 275 South, eventually attempting an unsuccessful use of a precision immobilization technique (PIT) to end the pursuit. TPD said the PIT maneuver occurred before the car sped towards Nebraska Avenue. However, footage of the chase recorded by WTSP news video drone showed that the PIT maneuver actually occurred hundreds of feet past Nebraska Avenue, WTSP reported.

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The TPD also claimed it stopped chasing the car as it approached the city’s 7th Avenue. However, WTSP drone footage and police helicopter recordings showed that FHP pursued the lethal vehicle onto 7th Avenue, ending the chase only about three blocks before the speeding car crashed into the outdoor seating area of Bradley’s, a local gay bar. The crash reportedly occurred about 20 second after the police stopped chasing the suspect’s car.

The FHP and TPD both haven’t repsonded to WTSP’s inquiries about the discrepancies in their version of events.

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Retired police instructor Tom Gleason, who taught vehicle pursuit courses at the FHP academy, said there was no need for authorities to conduct a high-speed chase since a police air unit was already tracking the suspect’s car. As such, officers could’ve simply arrested the suspect once his vehicle stopped instead of chasing him into a busy weekend area in Ybor City.

“We can always apprehend a person at a later date, but we can’t bring people back to life,” Gleason said. “Especially in that area on Friday and Saturday night, the large number of people that gather there because of the different entertainment they have, the risk factors in if you’re going to be chasing are just so great that, you know, it’s not a good idea to pursue.”

Attorney Anthony Rickman told WTVT that FHP’s vehicle pursuit policy, which allows officers to chase suspects for a broader range of reasons, has increased related fatalities.

Madison Kessler, communications director for the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, said in a statement, “Our troopers followed policy, disengaged prior to when the suspect entered a crowded area, and the driver lost control on his own.”

A state official told 10 Investigates’ Emerald Morrow earlier today that “troopers and FHP will give no quarter to those who terrorize roadways and communities” and that “troopers will continue to put themselves at risk to protect others.”

The suspected driver, 22-year-old Silas Sampson, has been jailed and charged with eight felonies, including four for vehicular homicide. 

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