NEW ORLEANS — Five people were sent to the hospital after a short, but wild police chase in New Orleans East Friday afternoon.
It all started around 2 p.m. near the intersection of Chef Highway and Downman Road. Levee District Police said an officer spotted a suspect allegedly involved in recent car burglaries and possible car-jackings at the Win-Dixie on Chef Highway.
That officer began a car chase with the suspect down Downman Road. Soon after, the officer was involved in a crash when a truck hit their SUV. That crash sent the four women in the truck to the hospital.
Authorities said the suspect then hit a bicyclist near the intersection of Downman and Dwyer. That bicyclist was thrown into the path of another car and hit again before being taken to the hospital in critical condition. The suspect then abandoned the car and ran off. From beginning to end, it all happened in less than a mile.
Normally, a scene like this would not play out on the streets of New Orleans. That’s because the New Orleans Police Department is under a federal order not to do them. The Levee District is a separate agency.
“That is a specific thing in the federal consent decree that the New Orleans Police Department entered into and so no other parties, no other agencies are party to that consent decree,” said WWL legal analyst Keva Landrum.
Landrum said the only way NOPD officers can chase a suspect is when they’re believed to be involved in a violent crime or could cause harm to others. Even then, Landrum says police chases are huge liabilities for any agency, especially if someone gets hurt.
“You have to make sure that when an officer gets permission to engage in those pursuits that it really is the utmost seriousness that you engage in those,” said Landrum.
A Levee District spokesperson tells Eyewitness News there is no policy against pursuits.
