NYPD Car Chases Are Becoming More Frequent — and More Dangerous
Despite injuries and deaths, records show the NYPD rarely disciplines officers for dangerous vehicle chases.
Police officers make split-second decisions about whether to chase a suspect. The consequences can be deadly.
Photographer: Douglas Sacha/Moment RF via Getty Images
On a rainy Saturday night in 2018, New York City Police Department officers Andrew Diaz and Oscar Lopez were sitting at an intersection in an unmarked car when a young couple on a motorcycle passed in front of them. The officers saw the bike run through a red light at high speed, they said, and chased the pair down side streets in the Sunnyside neighborhood of Queens.
Roughly 90 seconds into the pursuit, the officers heard a collision and saw sparks ahead of them. The bike had skidded down the slick street and crashed into the front of a bread delivery van, pinning the two riders underneath. Steven Goddard and Amy Gutierrez, the riders, were pronounced dead within the hour.